EMBATTLED Burnley MP Kitty Ussher has refused to answer 12 tough questions on the scandal that has led to her quitting the government and announcing she will stand down as an MP.

Critics have called for Mrs Ussher to quit as an MP immediately after it was revealed she dodged up to £17,000 in capital gains tax by “flipping” her registered main home.

Yesterday Mrs Ussher, who has been Burnley MP since 2005, was back at home in the town, but had no constituency engagements.

She was due to be working in Westminster as duty minister yesterday before she lost her job.

She was not answering her phone yesterday and her assistants in her constituency office said Mrs Ussher would not be speaking about the issue.

A spokesman said: “She will not be answering the questions that you have sent to her.”

Mrs Ussher quit her new role as a tax minister after it was revealed she avoided capital gains tax when she moved house in Burnley in 2007.

And she said she would step down as an MP at the next General Election for “family reasons”.

The questions we wanted answering included responses to her controversial expenses claims and whether she felt she had ever been accepted in Burnley.

Former county councillor Tony Martin, who lost his seat at County Hall in the wake of the expenses scandal, said he is interested in standing as her replacement for the Labour Party.

He said: “Kitty has gone into hiding. Her constituents have a right to hear what she has to say for herself, but I can’t say I blame her for laying low.”

Burnley Council leader Gordon Birtwistle said Mrs Ussher’s silence showed she had “divorced herself” from her constituents.

He said: “She needs to explain her actions to the public.

"It is vital that she comes clean and answers the tough questions that everyone wants to know. She has shown that she is morally bankrupt.

“The general feeling in Burnley is that we are in an awful situation that needs resolving quickly. Hiding away is not the answer.”

Local supporter and Labour councillor Julie Cooper said: “What she has done was within the rules.”

The questions we put to MP

1. You say you have not broken the rules, but do you think what you did in avoiding capital gains tax was morally wrong?

2. Do you accept that using accountants to avoid the tax amounts to playing the system and can you understand why people are so angry?

3. It took the expose by the Daily Telegraph for MPs to take steps to reform expenses. Why did none of you question the system before, or was it a case of claiming as much as you could all get away with?

4. How much capital gains tax did you avoid by switching your main home?

5. Will you pay the money back now? If not, why not?

6. Other high-profile male MPs appear to have also avoided paying capital gains tax, but not resigned. Do you feel you have been singled out?

7. People are calling for you to resign now. Can you explain why you have decided not to step down until the next election?

8. Your Burnley home was registered as your main home, but you appear to have spent most of your time living in London. How can the home which you live in with your husband and children for the majority of the week (ie the London one) not be your main home? Therefore, can you explain why Burnley was registered as your first home?

9. If London has been the home where you have spent the most time, then do you accept that some people might say you were not entitled to make the claims to make your London property ‘habitable for your family’?

10. People are sceptical that you are stepping down for family reasons. Hand on heart, can you give your word that this decision was made earlier in the year? If so, can you give more detail on how, and when, you came to this decision?

11. Some people in Burnley believe you had never really been accepted by all the public. They say you are seen as an outsider and a career politician. What do you think of this view and what would you say you have done for Burnley?

12. Lastly, what is your message for the people of Burnley?