Leicester East MP Keith Vaz has asked the Mercury to publish in full a letter in response to our coverage of his expenses claims and the public reaction to them. We are happy to do so. The letter addressed to Mercury Editor Keith Perch is as follows:

Dear Sir,

I am sorry that despite two attempts to speak to you directly today you were not available and I therefore was pleased to be able to speak to your Deputy Editor.

I regard your coverage of the MPs expenses issue as unfair for a number of reasons.

You state that I have not spoken to you directly.

For 22 years your reporters and my office have been in regular contact about a whole host of stories. It has never been a requirement in the past that I should speak to every reporter who rings. My office is authorised to give comments on my behalf, these comments are made by me, and that has never been the source of complaint by yourself, or your six predecessors.

In writing these articles your newspaper has not done any original research.

It has relied on the one national newspaper that has so far written about 200 MPs, two of whom are in Leicestershire, myself and Alan Duncan.

Facts have been wrong and been varied in different articles, for example about the value of my family home. (No valuation of anyone else's home, correct or otherwise, has been given)

As I said in my very first response, the reasons for the claims are as stated in the Mercury itself, (repeated Page 3 yesterday) – mortgage payments, cleaning, repairs and some furniture.

This was allowable under the rules. I have in fact spent a very small amount on furniture.

There has been much interest in the cushions I purchased.

While relatives of my constituents have been dying in Sri Lanka, whilst people have lost their jobs in the city, while there is a crucial and on-going campaign to stop the eco town, your newspaper appears fascinated with these purchases.

In the last financial year, I was 359th out of 645 MPs in their claims for the second home allowance. Hardly a headline grabber, yet this has never been mentioned although this information is publicly available.

In the last two weeks, Parliament has decided to cap mortgage payments for second homes, stop claims for cleaning, repairs and furniture.

I and every MP in Leicestershire supported these moves.

None of this was reported in these articles.

More change will come. The public need to be involved in this discussion. They need to be asked how much they believe their representatives should be paid, if they should be paid at all and for what, and whether it is right for MPs to have second jobs (which I do not have).

As I said to you in my first statement, since my election in 1987 I have had a flat very close to Parliament.

The late night sittings were exactly that. There are early morning meetings. In the block of flats, live a number of MPs.

Last week my days ended in Westminster as follows:

Monday – midnight; Tuesday – 30 minutes past midnight; Wednesday – 11.30pm; Thursday – midnight.

Many nights it is not possible to return to Junction 4 of the M1 to spend the night with my family. That is what most MPs do day in day out. That is why these allowances were given.

Since 1987 I have got married. My personal circumstances changed but I have ensured that this did not affect my ability to be near Parliament, with my family and with my constituents. Every MP is in the same position.

In the last nine days I travelled to Amsterdam to visit Europol, chaired a European conference on human trafficking, published a 400-page report on the subject, chaired a series of meetings with Joanna Lumley and the Gurkha veterans, spent three days lobbying ministers to agree to the Gurkhas being given rights of settlement, interviewed the Metropolitan Police commissioner and spoken eight times in Parliament.

Today I went to see an innovative scheme to stop underage drinking. No Mercury reporter was there. But three of your staff turned up last week to talk about cushions.

I am sorry that the reporter who rang my office and spoke to my member of staff could not compete with these other priorities, especially as I felt I have answered all the questions.

However, I did what you asked and wrote a 500 word article. When I wrote 800 words which would give a full explanation, I was told this was too long. The next day, without giving me the benefit of responding, you then devoted a whole page and editorial attacking me for what I said in the article!

You say the questions have not been answered. I disagree. You have answered most of them yourself. These are facts that cannot be changed.

All MPs get the same budget. It is for them to decide how they spend it. I am sure that every one of the Leicestershire MPs subsidises their office.

In the 22 years in Parliament, I have saved the taxpayer approximately £220,000 by dedicating my original Leicester home as a full time constituency office.

That money was therefore available to employ additional staff to help with the huge workload of an inner-city seat.

Thousands of people in Leicester have benefited. Please come and see the files.

Not all of them have e-mails and can write to your newspaper and tell you what has been done for them. Not all read the local paper. These are tough times for people. Everyone feels it, even the Mercury.

In your case advertising is down, circulation has declined, journalists and staff have been made redundant.

Sadly for a great paper, you are even offering £10 if people are found reading it.

As far as the MPs are concerned, it's even more desperate. Trust in us has plummeted.

It is Parliament's fault. We share individual and collective responsibility for this.

Some of our personal judgements, including my own, were unwise and will never be repeated. But hindsight is a wonderful gift.

While it is absolutely legitimate for you to inquire into these matters, it is right that you should be fair.

That has always been the tradition of your newspaper and even on an issue as important as this. I would be very sorry to see those values eroded.

With every good wish

Yours sincerely,

Keith Vaz