I WILL not say I’ve never heard of the Tory MP Sir John Butterfill, though I’ve certainly never noticed him.

When he was ‘caught up’ in the latest lobbying-for-cash Sunday Times sting, he was described in the press as a senior backbencher, but looking at his CV I conclude that it’s ‘senior’ as in senior bus pass.

His main claim on the generosity of the bogus lobbying firm seemed to be that he was ‘probably’ coming to the House of Lords.

We can now cross him off that list along with Richard Caborn (who made the same brag), Patricia Hewitt, Geoff Hoon, Stephen Byers and Adam Ingram.

At the end of each Parliament there’s a rather seedy list called the resignation honours in which a bevy of MPs who are not standing again are given seats in the Lords.

It’s a nice retirement present for party loyalists and while some do get stuck in to the work of the House, many do not. And it doesn’t do much to rejuvenate the Lords – after nearly 10 years there I am still below the average age!

I’m just astonished at the actions of these MPs. I understand (but deplore) their apparent greed but I do not understand how they can be so stupid. Surely they all saw the tapes of Lord Taylor? It all gives lobbying a bad name.

There’s nothing wrong with people lobbying MPs, peers and the government – it's part of democratic politics. When we’re dealing with proposed legislation, we’re lobbied quite a lot by interested parties.

The problem lies with professional lobbyists – people who make their living promoting other people’s causes (rather like lawyers). What we need is an open register of such parliamentary lobbyists, and strict rules about former ministers and parliamentarians getting paid for doing it.

New Labour have had 13 years to clean up this area and as with so much else, they have wasted them.

As for me, in nearly 40 years no-one has ever offered me a penny to promote their cause, either as a councillor or a peer. Whether it’s because they think I'm too unimportant or too honest, take your pick!