Like all backbenchers, from all parties, I get paid what many people will think is a huge annual salary – from November 1st 2006 it is £60,277. And like all MPs, from all parties, I also qualify to claim a mind-boggling array of extras that added up to almost £122,000 - down a tad on last years' £127,865.

It is YOUR money, so you deserve to know what I’m spending it on. The figures for every MP in the UK are published by Parliament. But I am the first MP in the UK to let people know as soon as I know. I did it last year and I'm doing it now.

In the most recent financial period - to March 2006 - I have spent £83,668 on staff. I employ a wonderfully efficient secretary, who keeps the wheels oiled properly in Bridgwater. I now have additional clerical help in the constituency to deal with the growing weight of correspondence. I also use a researcher in London to keep me briefed and my long-suffering wife Jill is on the payroll too. Since the 2005 figures were published (October 2005) my staffing costs have increased. I believe the workload now being handled justifies the costs.

(nb: My three children have researchers' security passes for Westminster but do not receive Parliamentary allowances or salaries)

If you ask me to reveal the precise remuneration of each of my employees I will politely reply – sorry, none of your business. The House of Commons voted to declare only the figure paid out of public funds for total staff costs. Members of my team are not elected representatives. As private citizens they have the right to decide what to disclose. If they choose to tell you how much they get paid, fair enough. But they all do a very good job.

I also claim expenses for getting to and from the constituency. The House of Commons offers a generous mileage allowance – over 40 pence per mile - (though high mileages get lower rates)  But I have managed to force down my annual bill from £11,000 last year to something around £6000 this year (ps: I drive a diesel to save public money)

You can examine all the small print for me and every other MP by looking at the official House of Commons audited figures - just click and scroll through to page 10 to find my details.

A few other perks you have a right to know about: The system provides financial help with buying a London property (I now own a small ex-council flat in Lambeth as well as my family home in West Somerset. I bought the London flat because it was unfair on my friends in the capital having to tolerate a political lodger four nights every week!) I could also claim to buy a fridge and a washing machine and a dishwasher and get my dry-cleaning done. I have the right to claim for quite a few basics – including food. In many cases the authorities do not demand proper receipts.And when I retire I will get a very generous pension. That is a dirty word in itself these days.

I did not invent this system. In fact I think it is a crazy system. MPs themselves should not set their own pensions, salaries and expenses. It should be taken out of our hands. I want to be seen as squeaky clean and I would much rather operate under a system that said – “here you are, here’s a decent salary, but NO perks. What you spend is up to you, but don’t expect any extras”That is why I was the first MP in Britain to publish details of my pay and expenses in 2004. People have the right to know where the money goes. I will be campaigning in Parliament to alter the way such money is allocated, because I think the existing system risks giving all MPs a bad name.

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It is refreshing to know that the national newspapers keep an eye on my website - witness this story about MPs expenses from the Sunday Times, published on October 30th 2005:

• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1849459,00.html

The rules about expenses are all contained in a document called The Green Book - 40 pages of it !

In addition to the annual publication of MPs expenses there is also the Register of Members Interests which lists business, financial or property interests that any MP may have (over and above their salaries as MPs and their homes)  My entry is enticingly sparse: "farm buildings in Scotland". I should, perhaps (for the benefit of those who imagine me as a member of the landed gentry) have added one telling but accurate word: "derelict" ! 

• http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/041022/memi17.htm