Tag Archives: mps expenses

“The pillars of the British establishment are tumbling” – Clegg

By Helen Duffett | Published 11th July 2011 - 8:53 am

The Independent features an interview with Nick Clegg, given on Friday during his visit to Paris.

He speaks of “politicians falling to their knees ingratiating themselves with media moguls”, “too many vested interests tied up with each other” and “a culture of arrogance and impunity” as he lists the casualties of recent crises: journalism and hacking, MPs’ expenses, and banking.

Here’s an extract:

The deputy prime minister senses a rare opportunity in the hacking scandal to carve out a separate niche. The Liberal Democrats have never wooed or been wooed by the media moguls. Unlike David Cameron and Ed Miliband, Mr Clegg

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Posted in News | Also tagged nick clegg, Phone hacking, press complaints commission | 12 Comments

Do CCHQ staff have to bring their own toilet paper in to work?

By Mark Pack | Published 2nd June 2011 - 8:34 pm

I only ask, you see, because earlier today the Conservative Party’s press team decided to highlight the fact that a Labour MP, Chuka Umunna, claimed £43.12 for “soap, toilet roll etc”.

Toilet paper Well, the claim was for his office where staff work. So quite why would someone want to pick on an employer providing toilet roll (and soap! yes, soap! the sheer luxury!) for his staff?

But perhaps that’s how CCHQ works and the staff there are so used to having to bring their own toilet paper …

Posted in News | Also tagged chuka umunna, conservative party | 4 Comments

Former Conservative peer Lord Taylor sentenced to 12 months for expenses fraud

By Helen Duffett | Published 31st May 2011 - 12:03 pm

From the BBC:

Ex-Tory peer Lord Taylor of Warwick has been jailed for 12 months for falsely claiming £11,277 in parliamentary expenses.

The 58-year-old claimed travel costs between his Oxford home and Westminster, as well as subsistence for staying in London.

He said he had made the false claims “in lieu of a salary”, and had been acting on the advice of colleagues.

Lord Taylor pleaded not guilty to the charges, but was convicted in January.

Read the full story at the BBC News website.

Posted in News | Also tagged lord taylor of warwick | 5 Comments

Statement from David Laws

By The Voice | Published 12th May 2011 - 11:30 am

From a party news release:

David Laws, MP for Yeovil, today commented on the conclusion of the Inquiry by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, and the Standards and Privileges Committee.

The Inquiry identified a number of breaches of rules, in particular it found that Mr. Laws was in breach of the partner rule, and should have designated his constituency home as his main home from 2004/05, on the basis of the nights spent test.

However, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards accepted that Mr. Laws’ motivation was privacy and not financial benefit, and both the Commissioner and the Committee accept that his claims would …

Posted in News | Also tagged david laws, parliamentary commissioner for standards, standards and privileges committee | 63 Comments

Nick Clegg sells second home, returns profit to the taxpayer

By Helen Duffett | Published 19th April 2011 - 2:53 pm

Nick Clegg has kept his promise made a year ago, to return any profit from the sale of his constituency home to the taxpayer.

Clegg told his local newspaper, the Sheffield Star, that he has now written a cheque to the House of Commons authorities for £38,750.

The Star reports:

Although he could have been allowed to keep the money under current rules, the Hallam MP and Lib Dem leader said he wanted to “lead by example” and that he hoped other MPs follow suit as they are forced to sell second homes and rent properties instead.

The new regulations come

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Posted in News | Also tagged nick clegg, sheffield hallam, sheffield star | 19 Comments

Nick Clegg’s delivery diary

By Helen Duffett | Published 3rd April 2011 - 1:53 pm

Nick Clegg’s article in the Indy today is a spare, evidential piece, as neatly sliced and lacking in rhetoric as an appointment diary.

But what a diary. Flip back a year, and Gordon was driving to the Palace to call the General Election, as the Liberal Democrats prepared to launch their manifesto.

Now, Nick writes,

…something is happening that, for the Liberal Democrats, is a new experience: the policies we championed during the election are becoming reality. I don’t mean that consultations are being announced, votes held, or papers published. Over the next few days, lives will be changed for

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged electoral reform, featured, general election manifesto, income tax, lib dem achievements, nick clegg, pupil premium, social mobility | 3 Comments

Dominic Carman selected as Liberal Democrat candidate for Barnsley Central by-election

By Helen Duffett | Published 12th February 2011 - 4:37 pm

Barnsley Liberal Democrats today selected Dominic Carman as their candidate for the March 3 Barnsley Central Parliamentary by-election, at a hustings in the constituency.

Carman, son of the late George Carman QC, and biographer of BNP leader Nick Griffin, previously stood for the Lib Dems in Barking, East London at the 2010 General Election.

The by-election was caused by the resignation of the constituency’s MP, Eric Illsley, who has now been jailed for 12 months for fraudulently claiming more than £14,000 in Parliamentary expenses.

Commenting, Dominic …

Posted in News, Parliamentary by-elections, Selection news | Also tagged barnsley central by-election, dominic carman, eric illsley | 22 Comments

Press Complaints Commission upholds MP’s complaint over expense reporting

By Mark Pack | Published 3rd February 2011 - 1:55 pm

Here’s the main part of the ruling against the East Kilbride News:

The complaint was made by the MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, Michael McCann. The article related to his Parliamentary expenses, which had been published following the release of the figures by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA). Mr McCann argued that a claim made in the article – that his expenses “include £1150 in hotel bills to fund his trips to Westminster, while he also claims for a rented property in central London” – was misleading because it suggested that he had claimed for hotel rooms at

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Posted in News | Also tagged journalism, michael mccann, press complaints commission | 1 Comment

Eric Illsley MP pleads guilty to expenses fraud charges

By Helen Duffett | Published 11th January 2011 - 11:52 am

From the BBC:

Former Labour MP Eric Illsley has admitted he fraudulently claimed more than £14,000 in parliamentary expenses.

He pleaded guilty to three false accounting charges over claims for council tax, maintenance, repairs and utility bills for his second home.

Illsley, appearing at Southwark Crown Court, previously denied all charges.

He was re-elected as Labour MP for Barnsley Central in May, but had the party whip withdrawn after being charged and now sits as an independent.

The hearing has been adjourned for four weeks, for a pre-sentence report. If Illsley receives a prison sentence of less than a year he may remain an MP, but if he is sentenced for longer, he will be disqualified from being an MP under the Representation of the People Act 1981.

Posted in News | Also tagged barnsley central by-election, chris wiggin, david chaytor, eric illsley, oldham east and saddleworth | 35 Comments

Former MP jailed for expenses fraud

By Sara Bedford | Published 7th January 2011 - 2:41 pm

Disgraced former MP David Chaytor was today jailed for 18 months, after admitting to three charges of false accounting on his expenses, totalling over £20,000. He had faced a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment, but his guilty plea was taken into account.

The former Labour MP for Bury North had made claims for renting two properties which were owned by him and his mother, and for IT consultancy for which he was never charged. According to the Daily Telegraph, Chaytor had spread more than £91,100 of expenses claims across five different properties in five years, ‘flipping’ the designation of his second home six times.

Posted in News | Also tagged david chaytor, elliot morley, eric illsley, jim devine | 29 Comments

Three former Labour MPs face criminal trial over expenses

By Helen Duffett | Published 10th November 2010 - 10:26 am

The Supreme Court has ruled this morning that three former Labour MPs should face criminal trials over their expenses claims.

Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine, charged with theft by false accounting, had previously argued at the Court of Appeal that only Parliament could hear their case.

The three have now exhausted their challenge to an original ruling which rejected their claims to Parliamentary privilege, a 300-year-old immunity from legal proceedings arising from actions within Parliament; however the judge ruled in June that individual expense claims are “not covered by parliamentary privilege and… triable in Crown Court”.

From the

Posted in News | Also tagged david chaytor, elliot morley, jim devine | 10 Comments

Nick Clegg won’t keep profits from second home sale

By Helen Duffett | Published 3rd September 2010 - 4:08 pm

Nick Clegg has confirmed that he is selling his constituency home, and will return any profit to the taxpayer – as promised earlier this year.

From the Press Association:

The Lib Dem leader, who has been the MP for the constituency since 2005, has referred to the house in Sheffield as “modest” and revealed he had bought it in a “complete state of disrepair”.

Defending his expenses claims in respect of the house, he told the BBC’s Andrew Neil in April: “I think, unlike almost everybody else, I have said very clearly and very openly that my approach to this is

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Posted in News | Also tagged nick clegg | 8 Comments

Parliamentary privilege doesn’t protect against criminal trial

By Helen Duffett | Published 30th July 2010 - 8:06 pm

Three former Labour MPs and a Conservative peer lost their appeals this morning, over last month’s ruling that they could not avoid trial for alleged expenses fraud by claiming Parliamentary privilege.

From the BBC:

Elliott Morley, David Chaytor, Jim Devine and Lord Hanningfield had argued at the Court of Appeal that only Parliament could hear their case.

The four all deny charges of false accounting over their expenses.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment.

The men had appealed against a ruling in June by Mr Justice Saunders sitting at Southwark Crown Court in central London.

The judge had rejected

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Posted in News, Parliament | Also tagged aptronyms, david chaytor, elliot morley, igor judge, jim devine, lord hanningfield | 4 Comments

Former Labour MP sues Sunday Telegraph over expenses story

By Mark Pack | Published 21st June 2010 - 1:50 pm

The Press Gazette reports:

Former Labour backbench MP Frank Cook has filed a libel writ against the Sunday Telegraph over a front-page story from May 2009 about his expenses.

He is demanding damages of up to £50,000 from publishers Telegraph Media Group over a front page story and two inside pieces in May 2009 in the Sunday Telegraph.

The stories, which he claims were defamatory, were headed “MP claimed £5 for church collection” and “I’m sorry church claim was unfair.”

Cook, who represents Stockton North, is also suing over a comment headed: “Now it is the people’s turn to be heard.”

He says the articles

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Posted in News | Also tagged daily telegraph, frank cook | 3 Comments

Peer and 3 former MPs facing criminal trial

By Helen Duffett | Published 11th June 2010 - 1:15 pm

A judge has ruled that three former Labour MPs and a Conservative peer may not avoid trial for expenses fraud, rejecting their claims to parliamentary privilege.

Parliamentary privilege is a 300-year-old immunity from legal proceedings arising from actions within Parliament; however the judge ruled that individual expense claims are “not covered by parliamentary privilege and… triable in Crown Court”.

From the BBC:

Mr Justice Saunders rejected arguments by Elliot Morley, David Chaytor, Jim Devine and Lord Hanningfield that only Parliament could hear their case.

There was no bar to a trial, he said.

The four, who all deny charges of false

…

Posted in News | Also tagged david chaytor, elliot morley, jim devine, lord hanningfield | 7 Comments

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