In depth: The Westminster four
Elliot Morley, David Chaytor, Jim Devine, and Lord Hanningfield all face charges of false accounting bought under the Theft Act.
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Thursday, 11, Mar 2010 04:01
By Alex Steger.
The expenses scandal is set to reignite today as criminal proceedings begin against three Labour MPs and a Conservative peer.
Elliot Morley, David Chaytor, Jim Devine, and Lord Hanningfield all face charges of false accounting bought under the Theft Act. All four deny the charges.
Elliot Morley
The MP for Glanford and Scunthorpe has been charged with two counts of false accounting.
The first of these charges alleges that the former teacher dishonestly claimed mortgage expenses of £14,428 between April 2004 and February 2006.
The second charge alleges that from March 2006 to November 2007 Mr Morley claimed a further £16,000 on the same property despite there no longer being a mortgage to pay off.
He has been suspended from the parliamentary Labour party and was barred from standing again as a Labour candidate.
David Chaytor
David Chaytor, MP for Bury North, also faces charges of false accounting.
The first of the three charges he faces alleges that he dishonestly claimed £1,950 for IT services in May 2006 by using false invoices. The second alleges that between September 2005 and September 2006 he claimed £12,925 for renting a property in London when he actually owned the Regent's Street property.
The third charge is for the alleged dishonest claim of £5,425 from September 2005 to January 2008 for rent on a property in Bury, Lancashire, which was owned by his mother.
He has also been suspended from the parliamentary Labour party and barred from standing again as a Labour candidate.
In a statement, he said: "After all these months of selective reporting and outlandish claims, I now look forward to explaining the details of my case to the authorities.
"I am clear that, to the best of my belief, I have not received any payment in excess of that for which I was eligible.
"There has been no loss to the taxpayer as a result of any error of mine."
Jim Devine
The third Labour MP to face criminal proceedings over the expenses scandal is Jim Devine. He faces two charges of false accounting the first of which alleges that between July 2008 and April 2009 the MP for Livingston dishonestly claimed £3,240 for cleaning services using false invoices. The second charge alleges that in March 2009 he dishonestly claimed £5,505 for stationery using false invoices.
Mr Devine said: "I am absolutely astonished and devastated at the decision. Two new charges have been brought, both of which are easily explained and both of which I'll be explaining in court."
Although not suspended from the party he has been barred from standing as a Labour candidate in the next election.
Lord Hanningfield
The only peer facing prosecution over expenses is the Conservative Lord Hanningfield. Despite denying the six counts of false accounting that he has been charged with the shadow transport minister has announced he is standing down from the frontbench in the House of Lords.
The six cases of false accountancy allege that from March 2006 and May 2009 he dishonestly submitted claims which he was aware he was not entitled to. These included a number of claims for overnight accommodation in London despite records showing that he was driven home and did not stay in the capital overnight.