I felt it important to respond to some of the correspondence in The Argus from protesters against the military intervention in Iraq who tried to gain access to one of my regular parliamentary advice surgeries.

The system of making appointments for my surgeries is important to ensure I am able to spend time with constituents to discuss their problems.

I prefer not to meet lobby groups who simply turn up at my surgeries, although I am more than happy to meet them if they make a prior appointment.

Finally, because a strict parliamentary rule prevents me from responding to people from outside my constituency, it is essential those emailing me at caplini@parliament.uk include their full home address to avoid a delay in reply.

-Ivor Caplin MP, House of Commons, London SW1