Letter: MPs who travel

Sir: When poking fun at the 'foreign jaunts' to which many MPs, often accompanied by their wives, have been treated, you report that 'globe-trotter of the year was Tony Worthington, MP'. However, looking at the countries he visited, which included Sudan, Liberia and Sierra Leone, three of the poorest and most disrupted countries in the world, it is hard to conclude that Mr Worthington had a good eye for a luxury holiday. Nor can Somaliland, where he was kidnapped and held to ransom, have been quite as big a hoot as the champagne flight to France enjoyed by another MP in your story.

Mr Worthington was, until he was recently dismissed for missing a Commons vote, Labour's deputy spokesman on development and had particular responsibility for African affairs. In this post, he was one of the few people anywhere in politics who took an energetic and informed interest in the issues affecting that continent. His visits let him see the appalling effects of local conflict and international neglect on ordinary people, and he attempted to lend them his voice.

Yours faithfully,

MIKE AARONSON

Overseas Director

Save the Children

London, SE5

2 March