Glasgow Central MP Mohammad Sarwar has been urged to put all of his expenses onto his website, and to make a personal statement on the controversy that has gripped the country.

The call has come from the SNP’s prospective candidate for the constituency, Osama Saeed.

The most recently published figures showed the Labour MP listed as the fifth most expensive in the entire House of Commons, claiming £174,882 during 2007/08.

While finishing high in the expense tables, statistics on Parliamentary activity meanwhile shows him to be seventh from bottom among Scottish MPs.

Commenting, the SNP’s Osama Saeed said: "Westminster has been rocked for weeks now with a soap opera of sleaze. Meanwhile, Glasgow Central’s MP has said nothing on the issue. People round the country are extremely angry at what has gone on, and this constituency is no different.

"It is not good enough to either have to wait till July for the House of Commons to finally publish everything or rely on the media to do it for them. For the sake of transparency I urge Mr Sarwar to break his silence.

"He should place all receipts onto his taxpayer funded website[3] for scrutiny so that constituents can at the very least have peace of mind if everything is in order."

Notes:

• Mohammad Sarwar also finished as Westminster’s third most expensive MP in 2003/04, and Scotland’s most expensive MP. Figures for 05, 06 and 07 have not been readily available at the time of this release.
  
  
• Sarwar claimed the maximum available £10,000 Communication Allowance in 07/08.
  
  
• A YouGov opinion poll last week gave the SNP an 11-point lead over Labour in Westminster voting intentions, a national swing which would place Glasgow Central on a knife-edge. The same poll also gave the SNP a massive 19-point lead for the forthcoming European elections on June 4th.