Dear Keith, at a private meeting recently I told you bluntly that I felt you should resign your position as MP for the Leicester East constituency. I am now writing to urge you again to do just that.

As a long-term member of the Labour Party and someone who has worked hard to promote good community relations, I used to be proud to live in a constituency which was one of the first to elect someone of an Asian background to Parliament.

I supported you with enthusiasm and, after my retirement, was delighted to be involved in campaigning for you in the 1997 election. In the early days I believe that you were an excellent constituency MP.

Following the furore over your expenses, I now feel ashamed to admit that I live here, let alone that I was once so supportive of you.

There seem to be very few people in the constituency who are willing to speak out openly about you, but, judging by the comments which I have heard in private from people across a range of backgrounds, I suspect that there is widespread disquiet and that very many of your constituents secretly share my concerns.

I found the revelations about your expenses claims appalling, and your apparent refusal to address the issues raised in the press only made things worse.

I am passionate about fairness and justice, however, so I wanted to hear what you had to say yourself before I came to any conclusions.

When I finally heard your comments, I was not impressed.

Although it was clear that you bitterly regretted the fact that you had spent taxpayers' money on luxury items such as silk cushions, it appeared to me that you could not understand why other aspects of your claims seem unacceptable to us as ordinary members of the public.

We all make mistakes, of course and, as my former students would tell you, I would be the first to say that you should be given a further chance if I was convinced that you understood why so much anger has been expressed and if you were clearly committed to a different approach in the future. Sadly, I was convinced otherwise. Had you at least made an apology to all your constituents and held an open meeting so that anyone who wished could question you, I might well feel differently.

Of course, I realise that you are not likely to stand down – and I realise, too, that the Labour Party is not prepared to force the issue with you or with other MPs.

For that reason I now feel strongly that we need an Independent MP in this constituency.

Martin Bell has told me that he would be very happy to support anyone who felt able and willing to mount a serious challenge against you. I hope that someone will come forward to stand as an Independent candidate in order to give voters here the opportunity to show through the ballot box how they really feel about your attitude and behaviour in this affair. I would be delighted to support and campaign for such a person.

As a last resort, if no-one else can be found and the people of East Leicester make it clear that they really want an Independent candidate, I might even be willing to challenge you myself, so strongly do I feel that someone should be prepared to make a stand for a different kind of politics.