Skip to main content

UK lawmakers face expenses charges

Four British Parliamentarians have been charged with submitting false expense claims.
Four British Parliamentarians have been charged with submitting false expense claims.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Three members of House of Commons, one member of House of Lords face charges
  • Four face charges of false accounting; maximum sentence is seven years
  • UK police have been probing lawmakers over last year's expenses scandal

London, England (CNN) -- Four British Parliamentarians are facing charges over false expense claims totaling more than $93,000 over the past six years, Britain's Crown Prosecution Service announced.

Three members of the House of Commons and one member of the House of Lords are to be charged with false accounting, which could bring prison terms of up to seven years, the CPS said.

London's Metropolitan Police Service has been investigating the expense claims of many members of Parliament, following a spending scandal last year.

Facing the most charges is Paul White, also known as Lord Hanningfield. He is facing six counts of submitting claims to which he knew he was not entitled, including "numerous" claims for staying overnight in London when records show he had been driven home and did not stay in the capital, said Keir Starmer, director of public prosecutions.

Starmer did not say how much White claimed in the expenses, which cover a period from 2006 to 2009.

David Chaytor, a member of Parliament from Bury, north of Manchester, is facing three counts, Starmer said.

Video: British MPs face criminal charges
RELATED TOPICS

In 2006, Chaytor allegedly claimed £1,950 ($3,065) for Information Technology services by using false invoices. Between 2005 and 2006, Chaytor allegedly claimed £12,925 ($20,321) for renting a property in London that he in fact owned; and between 2007 and 2008 he allegedly claimed £5,425 ($8,530) for renting a property in Lancashire owned by his mother.

Elliot Morley, a member of Parliament from the northern England city of Scunthorpe, is facing two counts of falsely claiming mortgage expenses, Starmer said.

Between 2004 and 2006, Morley allegedly claimed £14,428 ($22,690) for mortgage expenses "in excess of that to which he was entitled," Starmer said. Between 2006 and 2007, he allegedly claimed £16,000 ($25,166) for mortgage expenses on a property he no longer owned, Starmer said.

Jim Devine, a member of Parliament from the Scottish town of Livingston, near Edinburgh, is facing two charges of using false invoices in 2008 and 2009. For the first one, he allegedly claimed £3,240 ($5,094) for cleaning services; for the second, he allegedly claimed £5,505 ($8,653) for stationery, Starmer said.

The expenses in question total £59,473, or $93,495.

Lawyers for all four of the lawmakers asked whether they should be exempt from prosecution because of parliamentary privilege, Starmer said, but he said that is for the court to determine.

The four defendants are scheduled to appear in court March 11.

Speaking outside his home in Blackburn, Scotland, Devine said the charges against him are "not true" and he can prove it. "I am absolutely astonished and devastated at the decision that has been taken today," Devine said, adding he should have been given a chance to pay back the money before being charged.

White did not comment on the charges against him, except to say, "I have always spent a lot more than I've claimed -- many tens of thousands."

The other two members of Parliament could not be reached for comment Friday.

The scandal first emerged in the spring of 2009, when The Daily Telegraph newspaper published the expense claims for the first time. Heavily redacted versions of the claims were due to be made public in June, but the Telegraph obtained them weeks early and printed them in full.

The claims caused widespread public outrage because some were deemed excessive or were for items that seemingly had no connection to the lawmaker's duties.

Controversial claims detailed by the Telegraph included thousands of dollars' worth of interest on mortgages that had already been paid or that didn't exist; money spent to clean a moat on a country estate, and more than $1,000 spent on a small house for ducks.

Some lawmakers claimed the maximum monthly allowance for food, one claimed for dog food, and one claimed for Christmas decorations.

While the scandal snared lawmakers from all major parties in Parliament, it has tarnished the reputations of several rising stars in the Labour Party.

Cabinet minister Kitty Ussher resigned after the Telegraph reported that she designated her constituency home as her main residence for just one month in 2007 to avoid paying about $30,000 in capital gains tax.

Many lawmakers defended their claims as being within the rules. But even where that was the case, the public criticized lawmakers for greed and for taking advantage.

The three members of the House of Commons are all from the Labour Party, while White is from the opposition Conservatives.

Labour issued a statement saying it has barred Morley, Devine, and Chaytor from running as Labour candidates in the next election and has taken the toughest action of any party following the expenses scandal.

"The Labour Party has zero tolerance for criminal behavior and will take the strongest possible disciplinary action against any party member found guilty of breaking the law," the party said in a statement.

CNN's Jackie Clyne contributed to this report.