Now Brown faces sleaze probe over his expenses

Gordon Brown is to be questioned by Parliament's anti-sleaze watchdog over claims that he broke Commons rules by failing to declare more than £1,600 in rent from his local party.

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards John Lyon has written to the Prime Minister after a complaint by Tory MP Greg Hands.

The move follows the disclosure that Mr Brown's Kirkcaldy&Cowdenbeath Labour Party paid £3,321 in rent in 2006 to Mr Brown and Marilyn Livingstone, a member of the Scottish Parliament, for using part of his constituency office.

Half of the money was paid to Mr Brown - but he did not declare it in the Commons Register although he was claiming Parliamentary expenses for renting the office.

If Mr Brown is found guilty of contravening Parliament's strict rules for MPs' expenses, he could face the embarrassment of having to restate an entry in the MPs' Register of Interests - or be forced to apologise.

Mr Lyon wrote to Mr Hands: "Your complaint is that Mr Brown has sublet accommodation which he leases and pays for out of his Parliamentary allowances contrary to provisions [in Commons rules] and has failed to register any income in the Register.

"I am writing to Mr Brown to invite his comments. Once I have received his response ... I will consider how to proceed."

Parliamentary chiefs banned the subletting of constituency offices six years ago after the "Officegate" scandal involving Scotland's former First Minister and ex-Labour MP Henry McLeish, a political ally and friend of Mr Brown.

Mr McLeish was forced to resign in disgrace after claiming £38,000 in Commons expenses for his constituency office while subletting rooms in them to other groups.

The new row centres over Mr Brown's office move when he was elected MP for the newly created Kirkcaldy& Cowdenbeath constituency in 2005.

He and Ms Livingstone leased part of the office to the local Labour Party. Mr Brown was paid £1,610 in 2006 but did not declare it in the Commons register.

He changed the financial arrangements in December after the Commons Fees Office told him it was necessary "to avoid the perception that money from the public purse is going to the Labour Party".

Sources close to Mr Brown insist he has done nothing wrong and claim the dispute is the result of a bureaucratic mix-up.

They say Mr Brown did not declare the rent because he deducted it from his Commons claim, did not profit from it and the Commons Fees Office told him there was no need to declare it.

The Fees Office changed its advice after discussions with Mr Brown late last year.

The leasehold of the Prime Minister's local office was switched to Ms Livingstone, who sublets rooms to Mr Brown and the local Labour Party, bringing the arrangement into line with Commons expenses rules.

"There has never been any question of taxpayers' money being misused," said a spokesman for Mr Brown.

"We went to great lengths to ensure that did not occur."

Mr Hands said: "I find it astonishing that Mr Brown appears to have broken Parliament's rules on subletting offices.

"As a Parliamentary neighbour of Mr McLeish, he should have known the rules better than anyone.

"As Prime Minister, he has a duty to set the highest possible standard in the conduct of his personal affairs."