MPs' work rates leave lots of unanswered questions

Mr Kennedy, whose battle with alcohol was made public before his ousting last February, has a record which is in stark contrast to his Scottish Liberal Democrat colleagues.

He attended just 42 per cent of votes, spoke in four debates and appeared to ask no official questions of government departments, according to figures showing wide variations in performance MPs' and parties' performances.

One English MP last night hit out at the Scottish contingent in Westminster, saying they needed to "raise their game".

Scots Lib Dem MPs appear to ask far more questions and speak in more debates than Labour MPs. Labour MPs vote more, but opponents say they are merely "tartan lobby fodder", used to shore up the government.

Eric Joyce, the Labour MP for Falkirk, made the highest expenses claims in Westminster last year, after attending 90 per cent of votes. But he spoke in just 11 debates and received answers to just four written questions.

Mr Joyce, a parliamentary private secretary (PPS), cost taxpayers 175,000 - of which 45,000, or 865 a week, was for travel - on top of his salary of almost 60,000.

Asked yesterday about his record, Mr Joyce said he was prevented from speaking in debates on work and pensions questions because of his role as a PPS.

He also defended his lack of official written questions.

"Different MPs have different styles. I prefer to write letters to ministers direct," he said.

But his parliamentary record is striking compared to another ministerial aide, John Robertson, Labour MP for Glasgow North West.

Mr Robertson attended 82 per cent of votes, but spoke in 46 debates and received answers from government departments to 67 written questions, well above average.

Not all of his interventions have been helpful to the government either; recently he grilled ministers over the UK's export of its rubbish to China.

One political figure who does not appear to be favouring Westminster duties in his juggling act is Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, who has attended just 29 per cent of votes.

While the SNP refuses to vote on areas that pertain to England and Wales only, he trails Mike Weir, the MP for Angus, who attended 52 per cent of votes, spoke in 61 debates and asked 391 written questions.

Mr Salmond is a rare sight in Westminster, except for high-profile interventions during Prime Minister's Questions and the debate on the Iraq war, instead choosing to campaign north of the Border.

However, a spokeswoman for the SNP leader defended the SNP's record, insisting that when it came to Scottish legislation, its MPs attended more than 90 per cent of divisions.

David Cairns, minister for Scotland, denied his Labour colleagues were "tartan lobby fodder" and warned against using statistics to measure MPs' work rates.

"The SNP ask thousands of parliamentary questions so they can fiddle some bogus league table but it has about as much credibility as their tax plans," he said.

He said Labour MPs were making positive contributions, while, "in contrast, the SNP are ineffective; all they do is talk Scotland down, whinge and moan".

Another MP who has made an impact in his first term in parliament is Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman, who has played a high-profile role in the campaign to save rural post offices. Mr Alexander, the MP for Inverness, also took part in 77 per cent of votes, spoke in 45 debates and asked 300 written questions.

Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem spokeswoman on Scotland, also has a high attendance record, as does Alistair Carmichael, MP for Shetland and Orkney, who has one of the longest journeys from his constituency to Westminster.

But Andrew Tyrie, a Conservative MP for Chichester, was not impressed.

He said Scots MPs needed to "raise their game" and improve their attendance records.

"I believe in the Union and I want Scotland's MPs to play a full part in Westminster. These figures seem to tell another story," he said.

• SCOTS will soon be over-represented at Westminster again because of population increases in English constituencies, a Tory MP has claimed.

Andrew Tyrie, the MP for Chichester, has called for the four separate boundary commissions for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to be amalgamated into one body. He said: "We are part of the United Kingdom after all, the only fair way to designate boundaries is to have one commission."

Mr Tyrie argues that the constituency set-up will become increasingly unfair as it takes fewer voters to elect a Scots MP than an English one.

"We have had a cull of Scots MPs but the balance will soon be distorted again as the population in England grows. There is no good reason why a vote should be worth far more in one part of the country than another," he added.

Mr Tyrie dismissed the argument that some MPs had to cover far-flung areas - such as the Western Isles, which has a fifth of the electorate of the Isle of Wight - as "bogus".

There have previously been moves to merge the Outer Hebrides seat with Orkney and Shetland, however the move failed after a public inquiry.

Mr Tyrie said it was not essential to be geographically close to be a good MP. "In today's era of technology and faster transport, it is easier than ever to keep in touch with constituents."

Despite Mr Tyrie's complaints, boundary changes announced by the English commission this week should prove favourable to the Conservatives.

The changes will boost the number of seats in parliament from 646 to 650, with all the new seats being created in England.

The losers in the proposed shake-up include the large northern cities and London, while the rural south of England, as its population grows, is set to gain seats.

The boundaries are being re-drawn to ensure that constituencies across the UK have roughly the same number of potential voters. It means the Conservatives will need a swing of just 6.9 per cent, down from 7.4 per cent, to win the election.