MP ANDREW Smith feels Oxford East voters are best qualified to determine whether his wife merits the undisclosed amount of money he pays her from the public purse (Oxford Mail, February 1).
With Mr Smith claiming £83,308 for staff wages in 2006/7, some may wonder exactly how big a slice of this cash was paid to his wife.
However, Mrs Smith's employment also raises a wider issue about public money potentially being used for political purposes.
Mrs Smith is a county councillor for a ward within her husband's parliamentary constituency.
This means Mrs Smith presumably spends at least part of her working week doing casework for constituents who live in her county council ward. In itself, this is not necessarily a problem.
It would, however, be an issue if Mrs Smith were to use this taxpayer-funded job to bolster her own political career.
Other councillors have to fit their council duties around their normal working week. Hand on heart, can Mrs Smith say the same?
ANNE O'NEILL Cowley Road Oxford
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