My last article on MPs expenses stimulated a considerable response. Most of you agreed with the content wholeheartedly and some of you found it amusing. Except one. Yes, there’s always one, isn’t there?

I received a phone call from a gentleman who called himself Bob. He told me that I had got my facts wrong in the article so I asked him to enlighten me.

It turned out that Bob’s complaint was not really about error rather than bias. I had picked on the Labour Party and didn’t pick nearly enough on the Tories. Bob told me that he is a lifelong member of the Labour Party and that the bias shown in my article was an affront to that organisation.

Bob went on to say that he had some business dealings with the Handbook which he has now severed and he telephoned his friends who also agreed to cancel all of their business with this publication.

I asked Bob for his full name and that of his business but he declined to share this information.

Now before you worry that you may have received your last Handbook through the letter box and that this column has caused the demise of an excellent journal let me put your mind at rest. I have spoken to the staff of the Sale and Hale Handbooks and they tell me there is has not been any cancellations amongst their advertisers, in fact quite the opposite. Since the launch of the new look Handbooks the number of advertisers continues to grow month upon month.

In our last article we focussed primarily on the sleaze amongst Government Ministers, but not exclusively. We have previously stated that this was a cross-party sleaze trough. But as Labour is in power it is hardly surprising that the Ministers we mentioned are members of that aforesaid party.

Bob will have none of it. Critics should be silenced, irrespective of the validity or truth of the content of their criticism. Shoot the man who blew the whistle, do not ask why he blew it, that’s the ticket.

I would like to refer Bob to words attributed to the 18th century French writer Voltaire, ‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.’ Now THAT is the ticket.

Bob told me economics is his subject. Perhaps he could assist those Labour Party members he holds in such high esteem with their expenses.

He also tells me his wife’s specialist subject is English grammar and that I made seven mistakes in my last article.

So please forgive your humble scribe for any errors that may be contained within this submission. Bob would have you think this is considerably more important that the content, but he will never know. He tells me he has read his last handbook. Or has he?