WE applaud Bolton Tory MP Peter Thurnham for voting with his conscience - and against his own party - over the disclosure of MPs' outside earnings.

Statements from Tory MP Sir Michael Neubert that he may defy the new rules, which come into effect next April, are quite scurrilous.

If this foolish threat is carried out, Sir Michael would effectively hand Tony Blair an even bigger bat with which to hit the beleaguered Government in the run-up to the next election.

We have always supported calls requiring MPs to declare income generated as a result of being in the Commons, and a ban on acting as paid advocates for outside bodies. A greedy and selfish minority of MPs have brought this situation upon themselves, and have only themselves to blame for the Nolan Committee and its consequences.

If the rule of law is to enjoy the general support and confidence of society, those who make new laws and change old ones must be secure against even the faintest taint of sleaze.

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