Barbara Follet our current number two in "the top five most shameless MPs" has announced at her website that:

After careful consideration of the letters and feedback I have received from my Stevenage constituents, I decided to repay the amounts that I had claimed from the House of Commons Fees Office to cover part of the security costs on my London home for the period 2004/5 to 2007/8 and the as yet unpublished period 2008/9; also for the repair and cleaning of a child's rug which was claimed in error.

The Fees Office did not ask me to do this, nor did they feel that it was necessary for me to do this. But some of my constituents, whose opinion I value and respect, did.

I just want to dwell on that line "The Fees Office did not ask me to do this, nor did they feel that it was necessary for me to do this." My goodness Barbara - using The Fees Office to measure up against on the integrity stakes right now will not cut muster with the good people of Stevenage. The adjudications of The Fees Office have been shown to be so far removed from what ordinary decent people feel right and proper, that you are displaying a truly pathetic grasp of the issue here by having them as a "barometer" of probity. Anyway, let's consult the MPs expenses own rule book and see what it has to say about security shall we?

Barbara Follet as voted for in our poll of most shameless MPs in the MPs' expenses row.

Constituency: Stevenage
Party: Labour
Poll percentage: 5%
Poll position: 3

Summary from Telegraph Coverage:

"Barbara Follett used £25,000 of taxpayers' money to pay for private security patrols at her home... Mrs Follett nominates as her second home a four-storey property in a Soho side street. She does not claim back mortgage interest payments but instead charges taxpayers for weekly “mobile security” patrols at the property, upkeep of their CCTV monitors and a burglar alarm system operated by BT. The total cost of the security patrols between 2004 and 2008 was £25,411.64."

Link to full details from The Telegraph: full details

IMPORTANT: If you, or someone you know, would be interested in standing against this MP as an Independent (but generally a Labour supporter) - giving the natural Labour voters of Stevenage an alternative to abstaining or defecting - then please contact us.