I NOTE with amazement the recent letters from Mark Starr and Nick Chance claiming that MEPs get an extra £2,000 per month if they write a few letters to newspapers extolling the virtues of the EU. This is just not true.

I write letters to set the record straight when other writers mislead, as on matters such as this. I write to highlight issues where the Government fails to fight our corner in Brussels, which is often. Finally, I write because I care about my country and my home region, which is why I took on this role in the first place.

The real question should be why readers hear so little from MEPs from other political parties.

PHILIP BUSHILL-MATTHEWS MEP,

Conservative Office, Sansome Place, Worcester

and European Parliament, Brussels.