HAVING watched Tory leader David Cameron on television, I was pleased to hear his schemes for getting the snouts out of the trough on MPs expenses.

That is, until he mentioned that MPs would be allowed to claim council tax and rent allowance.

Why? We all have to find money for these and do not have any option but to pay.

Our homes were paid for by sheer hard work, thrift and self-help.

Some of us even gave selflessly of our leisure time to help bring up youngsters to be better citizens, as youth, Scout and Guide leaders – paying from our own pockets to subsidise the less well-off.

Without such dedicated leaders, youth crime would be greater than it is.

E HINTON, Horspath Road, Cowley, Oxford