Claire Perry attends and presents awards at the Durrington Award and Devizes Festival

On Saturday 28 May I was in Durrington presenting a Quality Council Award to the Town Council and the same week I also formally opened the wonderful Devizes Festival, now in its 30th year. As ever I was impressed by the line-up of entertainment and information assembled for the Pearl Anniversary of this much-loved event. One of the features is an evening with famous political cartoonist Martin Rowson and I am pleased to say that so far, I have escaped the particular cruelties of his pen; however it is a slightly depressing fact that some MPs of all political colours continue to provide much fodder for commentators and cartoonists alike with the on-going saga of prosecution for expenses fraud. Like many new MPs I have pledged to be completely open and transparent about any claims I make and these are all published on my website but fundamentally, I believe that like all public sector employees, MPs should never forget that they are spending taxpayers' money and especially at a time of public spending restraint we should always be looking for ways to claim even less than is "allowed".

Back to all posts