Vincent Cable rides high in value for money table

12.00.00am GMT Mon 29th Oct 2007

In the wake of the publication of MPs expenses and MPs parliamentary activity in the last year, Vincent Cable (Lib Dem MP for Twickenham), was ranked seventh among over 600 MPs in providing 'value for money' in a table published in the Sunday Telegraph.

The analysis seeks to capture both activity (voting record; numbers of written and oral questions; speeches) and expenses.

Vincent Cable said: "it is gratifying to be near the top of the league tables but these measures of value for money can be misleading. They measure the quantity of parliamentary contributions rather than the quality".

"There is also a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about MPs expenses. We don't profit from them. Overwhelmingly the money spent goes on staff salaries and rent. I have good staff and expensive rent and, yet, have managed to keep costs below the average. But if I cut expenses any lower, constituents wouldn't get a professional service. There are a few MPs with excessive claims and a few who have low claims because they do very little. Most MPs, from my experience, do a reasonable job at modest cost".