Hereford Times opinion: BILL Wiggin, the Press-loathing MP for North Herefordshire, is at it again.

He is twisting a Hereford Times reader’s words in a clumsy attempt to lend credibility to his attempts to shackle newspapers in this country.

Les Hardy (who is one of Mr Wiggin’s constituents) wrote a letter for publication in the paper on May 31 supporting our work in calling local politicians to account.

He observed that our recent revelations about Mr Wiggin’s financial interests outside Parliament had “struck a raw nerve” with the MP.

And he wondered, tongue-in-cheek, if Mr Wiggin was paid for the column he contributes to the Hereford Times once every three weeks [he is not]. “Every penny counts when you are an MP,” he joked.

Mr Wiggin did not see the funny side. His column last week replied to Mr Hardy’s jibe.

“The fact that the editor has deliberately chosen to publish this sort of misleading information is what makes me so passionate about fighting for Press accountability and accessible low-cost arbitration,” he huffed.

Leaving aside Mr Wiggin’s failure to understand a comic aside, his remarks are pompous and disingenuous.

Papers such as the Hereford Times are subject to some of the strictest legal and ethical restraints in the Western world.

Mr Wiggin is the sort of politician who supports free speech... but only when he approves of what is being said!