The news that Esther Rantzen is to stand in Luton South at the next general election has been welcomed by Liberal Democrat Prospective Luton South Candidate, Qurban Hussain.

“It will give people a wider choice, but she will need to spell out exactly what she stands for. Simply being against exploitation of the expenses system will not be enough. Liberal Democrats in parliament have been trying to clean up the system for years and all their attempts have been blocked by the two old parties, Labour and the Tories.”

“Does she support the Labour government’s parliamentary standards bill which is their attempt to make it look as though they are dealing with the scandal? It is a monstrous waste of time offering no fundamental reform of MPs’ expenses and it will not give voters the right to sack MPs who misbehave. People are quite rightly outraged at the way the Luton South MP has exploited the expenses rules and what Britain needs is a fresh start. It is hard to see what a single independent MP could do on her own, however well motivated she is.”

“Our analysis of the recent Euro election result shows much the same picture as the 2007 local elections. In South Luton it’s neck and neck between Labour and Liberal Democrats with the Tories nowhere at around 15%. It will certainly be interesting to see where Esther Rantzen’s support comes from. If her intervention increases the overall number of people who actually turn out to vote then that can only be good for our democracy.”