IT says it all that a few days after he takes to the airwaves to claim that a one per cent pay rise for NHS staff is unaffordable that James Wharton MP attends a £250-a-head fundraising dinner for Conservative donors (Echo, Oct 18).

The guests there – particularly whoever it was who wasted £25,000 on a sculpture of David Cameron on a bike – clearly have none of the money worries that beset hard-pressed and hardworking NHS staff and so many of Mr Wharton’s Stockton South constituents.

The United & Cecil Club, which organised the beano, does not appear to have any other function than to act as a channel for people to donate money to the Conservatives without disclosing their identity.

They have dished out more than £282,000 to candidates in marginal seats since the last election and the Register of Interests shows that Mr Wharton has received £14,000.

In the interests of transparency, we should know exactly who these donors are and what benefits they expect to gain by bankrolling Tory candidates in marginal seats – presumably more tax cuts for vastly wealthy people like themselves while dedicated NHS staff and the rest of us are told yet again to tighten our belts.

Michael Clark Secretary, Stockton South Constituency Labour Party