Laura Pidcock: Former MP to repay £3k over misused stationery

An ex-MP must repay more than £3,800 after she used Commons stationery to accuse the government of a "betrayal" over the BBC licence fee for over-75s.

Laura Pidcock, former Labour MP for North West Durham, sent out more than 5,000 letters last September accusing the Conservatives of a "welfare cut".

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards found this broke the rules on party-political messaging.

Free TV licences for 3.7 million people are due to be scrapped on 1 August.

The letter, on Commons headed paper and in a pre-paid envelope, said: "This Tory Government has overseen the scrapping of free TV licences for the over-75s, despite their manifesto commitment to maintain free TV licences for over-75s and has delivered yet another welfare cut to some of the most vulnerable in our society. This is a betrayal of older citizens, who deserve dignity in retirement and reward for their hard work."

Ms Pidcock said she used a template from a House of Commons department, but had made some changes.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards said these changes meant the letter "was no longer neutral and objective" and had changed "from a purely parliamentary communication, becoming party-political in tone and content".

The former MP said it was an "honest mistake", adding: "I am sorry if the way in which I communicated this was not allowed under the rules."

Ms Pidcock lost her seat to Conservative Richard Holden in December's general election.

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