Sunderland Today

MP said nothing

THIS will be the first General Election for which I am in the country and able to vote. So I take an interest in how my vote may affect the representation of Sunderland North in the House of Commons over the next five years.
The website www.theyworkforyou.com allows you to search for your local MP by post code and provides a wealth of information about this person. It is linked to the on-line version of Hansard and contains details of such things as the voting records, participation in debates, expenses claimed and interests declared of every MP.
The, until recently sitting, MP for Sunderland North is Bill Etherington and he is seeking re-election on May 5.
According to this website Mr Etherington claimed expenses totalling £126,585 in 2004. This is in addition to his annual salary, which currently stands at £57,485.
Any resident of Sunderland North would expect us to have been well represented in Parliament over the last year. Wrong.
According to Hansard, Mr Etherington spoke a grand total of zero times in the House of Commons in 2004. In fact the on-line and searchable Hansard has no record of Mr Etherington speaking at all in the House of Commons, on any issue, since November 10, 2003!
Does anybody else feel that we are not getting value for money?
I would urge the electorate of Sunderland North to remember this on May 5.
Sadly, however, I feel that the somewhat blinkered "I'm voting Labour because I've always voted Labour and so did my parents, granny etc, etc" mentality will prevail and Mr Etherington will be sitting pretty for the next five years.
It would be nice to have someone who is prepared to open his, or her, mouth for a change.
GS Nichol
Seaburn Dene
Sunderland