Three MPs and a peer deny expenses fraud

12/03/2010 00:15:59

Four politicians pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of false accounting over their parliamentary expenses, an issue that has tarnished the image of major parties with an election only weeks away.

The case is the first criminal prosecution stemming from a wider scandal that erupted last year over MPs expenses. The affair has angered voters and tainted both the Labour Party and the Conservatives.

The four are Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine, who are Labour MPs, and Paul White, known as Lord Hanningfield, a Conservative peer.

After a brief appearance at Westminster Magistrates' Court, a short distance from parliament, all four were released on unconditional bail and ordered to appear before a higher court on March 30.

A general election is expected on May 6 and latest polls show the result could be inconclusive, with neither of the two main parties winning an outright majority.

The expenses scandal makes the election outcome even harder to call, with smaller fringe parties and independent candidates expected to pick up votes from disgruntled Britons.

Labour has barred former minister Morley, Chaytor and Devine from running for new terms. White has resigned as the Conservative party's business spokesman in the Lords and been suspended as a member of the party's group in the Lords.

Prosecutors will announce Friday whether they are bringing charges against a further politician. A Crown Prosecution Service spokeswoman would not identify the individual.

PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE

The lawyer representing Morley, Chaytor and Devine argued that parliamentary privilege should prevent them from having to face a c riminal trial.

"They maintain that to prosecute them in the criminal courts for their parliamentary activities would infringe the principle of the separation of powers, which is one of the principles which underpins the UK's constitutional structure," Julian Knowles told the court.

However, judge Timothy Workman dismissed the application and ordered the men to appear before Southwark Crown Court. The four men face a maximum sentence of seven years in jail if convicted.

The expenses scandal dominated newspapers' front pages for weeks, as it emerged that MPs had claimed among other things for toilet paper, a shelter for ducks and the cost of cleaning a moat.

(Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)