I WAS delighted when the vote to introduce plain packaging of cigarettes was passed with a decent majority in the House of Commons.

Health campaigners have long been pushing for the move, saying it will help save lives.

Imagine my surprise and disappointment therefore when I learned that my representative in the House of Commons, the Tory MP for Weaver Vale, wasn’t present for this important vote.

This was regarded as a landmark free vote in the House of Commons where MPs were able to express their views freely.

Well the Tory MP for Weaver Vale did that by not voting on this important issue.

Mind you, his record for speaking in debates in the House is woeful, having spoken in only 20 debates in the past year, which is below average for MPs.

Iris Keating Warrington