Archbishop seeks end to expenses leaks

By Tim Castle

LONDON (Reuters) - The head of the Anglican church urged a halt on Saturday to "systematic humiliation" of members of parliament in an expenses scandal, warning it could undermine faith in democracy.

Media revelations of extravagant expense claims have infuriated recession-hit Britons and fuelled pressure for an early parliamentary election, with growing numbers of voters appearing set to reject mainstream political parties.

Claims made by more than 200 of parliament's 646 MPs have now been exposed in a series of reports by the Daily Telegraph newspaper based on information passed on by a former army officer from an unnamed source.

"Many will now be wondering whether the point has not been adequately made," said Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Anglican Church.

"The continuing systematic humiliation of politicians itself threatens to carry a heavy price in terms of our ability to salvage some confidence in our democracy," he wrote in The Times newspaper.

Hours after his comments were published, two further MPs said they would be standing down at the next election, which must be held by June next year.

The Independent newspaper joined the criticism of the continuing exposures, saying they risked eroding the democracy if all MPs were tarred with the same brush.

"CRUDE BULLYING"