I WAS very disappointed to read Mr Corfe's letter in the Wirral Globe, Wednesday, January 29.

Mr Corfe wrote to me on October 25 regarding his concerns about the situation of a friend of his.

I replied to him on October 28, explaining that because of confidentiality.

I could not take up a case for someone without their permission, but that if they were a constituent of mine and they contacted me direct, I would be happy to help them in any way I could As it happened, Mr Corfe responded to tell me that they actually lived in another constituency.

Parliamentary protocol dictates that MPs are not permitted to take up cases on behalf of the constituents of other MPs, and I suggested in my letter that his friend should contact their own MP if they lived outside of Wirral West.

But I informed him I would provide him with general information on this matter.

Helping my constituents with their issues and responding promptly to them is a top priority for me.

Which is why I hold five advice surgeries a month at different venues across the constituency for my constituents to come to see me with issues with which they would like my assistance, I can also be contacted via email, telephone, text and letter.

I am very happy for people to seek to disagree with my political views – that is a healthy part of our democracy – but I resent that spilling over into accusations that I refused to help someone when I made clear to Mr Corfe the basis upon which I was happy to help and the basis on which I was unable to help – something he did not mention in his letter to the paper.

Esther McVey MP, Wirral West Constituency