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Ex-minister pays the price for ghost mortgage
Paul Waugh14 May 2009
Former minister Elliot Morley was suspended as a Labour MP today after it emerged he claimed £16,000 for a mortgage that did not exist. Gordon Brown used a speech to party members this afternoon to make the announcement.
Mr Morley, in a personal statement, said: “I deeply apologise for such sloppy accounting in a very loose and shambolic allowance system but there is nobody to blame but myself and I take full responsibility for this. I apologise unreservedly.”
He is the first Labour MP to have the whip withdrawn since Clare Short was kicked out for calling on the public to vote against the party. His suspension will last until the full extent of the allegations against him is known.
Chief Whip Nick Brown recommended the suspension to Gordon Brown after he established some “outstanding facts” in the case today.
The Prime Minister said other excessive claims by Labour MPs would also be looked at. “If there has been wrong-doing it has to be put right as quickly as possible and if it is very serious there will be a very serious response,” he said. “Each case is different, but there are cases where I think it is appropriate — even when people have behaved within the rules — that they repay money to the public purse.”
Labour MP Colin Challen urged Mr Morley to step aside as chairman of the Commons energy and climate change select committee.
Labour's ruling National Executive Committee will meet next Tuesday to discuss the case and consider disciplinary action for every Labour MP involved in the expenses scandal.
Nick Brown said: “I have spoken to the Prime Minister about the general situation this morning. We are looking very carefully at every allegation on a case-by-case basis.”
He said he had spoken to Labour general secretary Ray Collins and that the party would announce its final decisions after a business meeting of the NEC next Wednesday. “It will be discussing MPs who may have fallen below the standards that the Labour party expects of its MPs,” the Chief Whip told the Newcastle Journal.
Mr Morley's case, described as one of the worst scandals of the MPs' saga to date, centres on his claim of £800 a month in mortgage interest for 18 months after he paid off the loan on his constituency home.
Although the former agriculture minister has repaid the money and said the claims were “inadvertent”, lawyers said he may have breached the 2006 Fraud Act and the 1968 Theft Act. Conservative leader David Cameron said the case was “now a matter for the police and prosecuting authorities”.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said the revelations about Mr Morley were the “most disgusting yet” in the expenses scandal. He said he would consider bringing a private prosecution against the MP if no police action was taken.
The Scunthorpe MP said he would meet his local party in the next two weeks to consider whether he should remain as their representative. Mr Morley also owned a house in Southwark, declared it as his “main home”, and yet let it out to fellow Labour MP Ian Cawsey. He charged his colleague £1,000 a month in rent and council tax, bills he in turn reclaimed from the taxpayer.
In November 2007, more than a year after he repaid his mortgage on the Scunthorpe house, Mr Morley “flipped” his home designation and claimed full mortgage interest on his London home. For four months he was being paid by the taxpayer while Mr Cawsey was also claiming his own rent — which he paid to Mr Morley.
Mr Cawsey told the Standard today that he was never aware of Mr Morley's arrangements. He also said he and Mr Morley lived in the Southwark house during the week and he claimed back his rent because he designated the house his “second home”.
“I received no financial or personal gain from these arrangements,” he said. Hundreds of MPs face the threat of demands to repay expenses stretching back four years.
More than 20 MPs of all parties have said they will pay back nearly £130,000. Last night's Commons members allowances committee agreed to establish an independent audit to check every claim was made “within the rules and for the purpose for which the allowance existed”.
Reader views (52)
Why is he allowed to stay until next election? why has it taken so long? BRown is so weak..the anti-sleaze legacy of Blair is ever mor sleaze and an illegal war!!!
- Jean, London England, 29/05/2009 15:49
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Well well well - it seems that public noutrage has its place in politics after all....
- Rogan, Irving, 14/05/2009 20:22
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Albert Hall of Hove: There is no such thing as a "good" politician. If they were "good", good at anything at all, they'd be WORKING for a living, and paying tax on the whole lot, not scrounging off the State. This lot aren't fit to clean out the lavatories in Westminster; they'd just leave behind even more slime. Any of them that can be proved to have pinched even as much as a stamp, should be preosecuted to the full extent of the laws that they theselves have made for other people.
- .Lezli Taubler, London / UK, 14/05/2009 19:26
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Glad I'm out in Thailand. They are not this bad out here!
- Martin, kotat Thailand, 14/05/2009 16:56
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His excuses don't wash.
He would have realised double quick something was amiss
if he'd had to make the payments from his own pocket.
The onus is on the claimant to make sure expenses
are accurate and valid.This mistake went on for too long
for it to have been an accident.
This is embezzlement.
- Bettina, KoT Surrey, 14/05/2009 15:36
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so hang on ... lord archer was put in jail for a minor indiscretion, cecil parkinson had to resign in shame for a bit of extra marital rumpy pumpy (which today would open up the celeb circuit to him - berlusconi), etc., yet this lot of shamefully and dishonest to the core lot of Labour sleazes laugh all the way to the next election having stolen taxpayers money and financially, morally and intelluactually bankrupted & decimated this country..... something very very not right Ed, me thinks .....
- Moral V Imoral, London, 14/05/2009 14:29
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I am absolutely disgusted with MPs behaviour.
I proudly told my partner how MPs in UK were honourable and honest and should any fraudulent or inappropriate behaviour came to light they would be forced to resign and make a public apology unlike in his country.
How wrong I was! Many of us are out there struggling trying to make an honest living and managing with the little we have, but here we have MPs who are earning decent compensation for their service but by this fraudulent and sheer greedy behaviour is putting this country to shame and on the same footing as those many countries around the world well known for corruption.
How can we trust our so called representatives when they have no conscience and their behaviour suggest that they are only out for what they can get but not what they can give.
Appalled Reader.
- Sharon, Reading, England, 14/05/2009 14:03
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How on earth could someone 'not realise' they had paid back a mortgage? It's what most of us strive for every day of our working lives.
- Chris, London, 14/05/2009 13:59
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Surely, this and the other exposures are fraud and the people involved should be prosecuted immediately. Parliament should be dissolved until this disgusting mess is sorted out.
- Patricia, London, 14/05/2009 13:36
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Absolutely disgusting, pensions destroyed, savings interest reduced to nothing, fuel and food prices rising on a weekly basis. This is terrorism.
- Fred Kite (I'M Alright Jacquie), London, 14/05/2009 13:04
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Brown will cut this MP adrift and keep the other rogues and thieves in his Cabinet.He clearly has no intention of cleaning up his soiled party.He will call in the cleaners and aask his brother to pay the bill with taxpayers money no doubt.
- Peter Doff, york UK, 14/05/2009 12:59
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What I love is that when uncovered, MPs call their dishonest fraudulent actions 'mistakes'. It seems to me that alot of 'mistakes' have been made over a long period of time which begs the question 'Are these people actually fit to govern?'. The answer has to be a resounding NO.
Us mere mortals would have had the book thrown at us and banged up a long time ago had we made the same 'mistakes'.
- Goggs, London, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Now hypocrite Morley is jumping up and down spouting that "I have not done anything wrong".
In that case the Benefits Agency Fraud Department must be disbanded with immediate effect - as clearly, Joe Public can make the same claim as MP's are doing.
It beggars belief that MP's BELIEVE THEY ARE ABOVE THE LAW (Laws which THEY made against Joe Public).
Where is a complete breakdown of Michael Martin's expenses? That should cover the first 20 pages in the Daily Telegraph, no problem.
- Reuben Camara, Morecambe UK, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Communist Britain .MPs are the untouchables and seem to have the entire police network under their control.80% of the population want parliment dissolved ,the MPs know this but just as with the Lisbon Treaty,they rule with an iron fist and could not give two hoots about what the British public want.THEY ARE WORSE THAN ANY THIRD WORLD DICTATOR.Prehaps mass action is our only option.
- David, london, 14/05/2009 12:59
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The utter hypocrisy of this greedy authoritarian sham of a Government is truly sickening.
What makes my blood boil is Gordon Brown/Nu Labour's ruthless and umerciless pressure and enforcement (through the Stasi SS at HRMC) on small businesses and ordinary people, often making horrendous mistakes which bankrupt these innocent parties.
All the while these same pig-greedy MP's have been using our hard-earned taxes to enrich themselves! What an outrage!
These expenses claims are NOT simply "mistakes", these appear to be out and out criminal offences under the Fraud Act which MUST be investigated by the Police.
I am now of the opinion that these alleged offences are so serious that the Queen should invoke her powers to dissolve Parliament and get rid of Gormless Brown once and for all while she's at it.
GORDON BROWN RESIGN NOW AND CALL AN ELECTION - THE WHOLE COUNTRY WANTS DEMOCRACY BACK!
- Dan, London, UK, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Not only is he a thief but also a LIAR.What signs is this
throwing out to Joe public,can we now fiddle our tax returns,forget to pay council tax etc.He should be sacked and prosecuted.
- G.Diamond, Romford Essex, 14/05/2009 12:59
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I've read articles in UK papers about people on Job Seekers Allowance and Income support being imprisoned in the UK for mistakenly claiming far smaller sums than those mentioned here. They get well punished by the State even if they attempt to repay the monies from the miserable income which they receive.
Treat these MP's like the unfortunates, It's after all still the same taxpayers money, and the obvious dishonesty is certainly GREED and not NEED.
- John Clifford, Luzern, Switzerland, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Makes me laugh. MPs claiming poverty then being able to come up with big sums of money at a moments notice to repay false claims.
- Dereck, London, England, 14/05/2009 12:59
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This is fraud and nothing else.
Why has he not been charged yet as anyone else would have been?
The one rule for them and another rule for us has got to stop and justice seen to be served
- Mike, London England, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Sack him and prosecute him immediately - he knew what he was doing, and now he's lying about it....
- Teddy, Islington, London, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Fraud is "criminal deception,use of false representations to gain unjust advantage"
Morley and all other MPs who are found to have made "false representations" when claiming "expenses" must be investigated by the Police and prosecuted for fraud. No
explanations, no excuses, no apologies. Fraud is fraud.
- Pam Read, London UK, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Having worked for local government I am not surprised at what has now come to light but feel sorry for the few who really do care about the country/its people, and want to make things better. There is an election looming but I for one will waste my vote and leave it to chance?????
- Anon, uk, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Assuming these stories are accurate, this and other expenses incidents suggest a high degree of fraud. In the real world, if I were caught out claiming for stuff that I shouldn't claim for, irrespective of the quality of our accounts department, not only would I be expected to reimburse the company, but would also lose my job and potentially face legal sanctions.
At present the atmosphere at Westminster suggests that by admitting to their "mistake" and repaying the relevant sums, the electorate will forgive the miscreants. Clearly the cocoon is still firmly wrapped around our honourable members heads.
- Matthew, london, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Sorry, the most used word amonst MPs, bet the would have not been sorry if they had not been caught.
I say jail this fraudster.
- C Cusano, Bedford, 14/05/2009 12:59
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As I've said in an earlier thread, this is False Accounting (s.17 Theft Act 1968). It's as clear and simple as that.
- Kevin, Wimborne, UK, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Oh come now. Who amongst us can say they have never lost track of time? After all a mortgage is a trivial little matter that very few of us even bother to monitor once we've taken it out.
This poor man is being vilified, just because he is corrupt, amoral and rotten to the core.
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" is what the Good Book says - ok, give it here, and make it a big one
- Barry Chapman, Welwyn England, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Without the revelations in the media, this thief would have been able to hide his crimes. The efforts of the Speaker to cover up the criminality that has been going on makes him the Accomplice-in-Chief.
- Jules, London, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Prosecute every one of them and make them repay every penny they have fraudulently claimed. Westminster has become a cesspit full of corrupt MPs whose behaviour is despicable.
- R.F., Yorks, UK, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Of course, none of these government ministers have done anythink wrong as it's in the RULES innit?
- Fraser, Telford Park, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Fraud is fraud and this has to be dealt with by the police. No excuses. Any member found guilty should be sacked immediately, prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and lose any pension entitlement they had. Only then will the democratic process recover.
- Duncan Walker, Ex Peckham now Thailand, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Us 'regular folk' are treated as guilty until proven innocent. If we were to 'forget' that we were not entitled to benefits but continued to claim them, we would almost certainly be serving a long sentence!
It should be no different for every one of these MP's.
Any MP who is paying back funds are doing so because they supposedly realise they were wrong. Would they have paid this back if the news was not broken? DOUBT IT.
- Kevin, London, UK, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Unless Gordon Brown suspends Elliott Morley now whilst a police investigation is undertaken into the suspected fraud the public will see that a cover up is being organised.
- Bethany Williams, London, 14/05/2009 12:59
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I wish that I were so well remunerated that, if my mortgage was paid off, I simply wouldn't notice it!! These parasites have had it far too easy for far too long. Repayment (with or without interest) is not good enough, they should be investigated as would any other thief or benefits cheat.
- Helen, London, UK, 14/05/2009 12:59
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'RF, Yorks' You missed two little words from your comment, 'PLUS INTEREST'. Tax man charges me een if I owe twenty quid.
- Alan, carlisle uk, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Remind us precisely which MPs insisted that addresses should not be disclosed for what they claimed were 'security' reasons (which would have disguised their 'flipping'). That's true dissimulation. And if you can't trust these people with the petty cash, just imagine what they've been doing for years with the real policy issues.
- Steve, London, England, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Brown has got to suspend the whip from him and call in the police. There is enough suspicion that an offence may have been committed for the police to act. If Brown does not act positively on this one, which is probably the worst case to be unearthed yet, Cameron and the media will go for him big time. He has no other options open to him as I see it.
- B Gare, Norfok Gorleston, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Can't wait to see what Val from Spain has to say about this one!
- Chris, Brighton, England, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Is the good Elliot Morley the English cousin of the the senior Australian statesman and diplomat
Sir Les Paterson???
Unfortunately I cannot post digital pictures here, but I can assure all readers of the ES that the similarities are striking!
- Weddigen (A Non-Smoker), London SW, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Sack them all. Charge them with fraud and bringing the office into disrepute. Then send them to prison and confiscate the assets they have stolen and impose 100% penalties. When these crooks have been removed from power perhaps this will start to restore some confidence in the system.
- Adam, Harrow, UK, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Notice how the benefit cheat adverts have disapeared from TV - a little close to the bone now I feel. So very tempting to report the entire labour party to the cheat hotline.
- Sarah Jones, London, 14/05/2009 12:59
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PROSECUTE. Use the 2006 Fraud Act ,sections 2,3 & 4.
IF GUILTY. Six months to ten years in prison; an unlimited fine; or both.
- Frank, Bristol UK, 14/05/2009 12:59
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I couldn't agree more, John Clifford.
I have a teenage son (17) who is studying economics and who takes great interest in current affairs, and we've just been discussing whether there is ANY real tool - other than a General Election - by which the outraged British public can vent their spleen and effect immediate change, since none of the current administration seems to respect us enough to do the right thing and resign. He is particularly concerned that, in a country not traditionally given to revolution, these politicians can make hay freely without fear of any real retribution, and despairs that, following a furore, everything will settle down and be forgotten within a few weeks.
- Outraged Citizen, Nottingham, UK, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Isn’t it disgraceful that a man who banned a wholly legitimate and responsible agricultural sector in the UK – fur farming – on “moral” grounds, despite the fact that there were no welfare grounds for doing so, has now been found to have defrauded the British tax payer by claiming for mortgage repayments that did not exist. It is clear that this former Minister’s view of morality is extremely flexible. He clearly thinks it was ok for him to ruin the livelihoods of a small but responsible farming community to appease extremist groups which he believed helped him to power, whilst conveniently forgetting that he was claiming £16,000 of tax payers money that he had no right to. Disgusting!!!
- Nika, Maribor, Slovenia, 14/05/2009 12:59
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I second Frank of Bristol as to: PROSECUTE. Use the 2006 Fraud Act ,sections 2,3 & 4.
Further more, they should all be placed on a ‘National Criminal Register’ so that they may never enter any Public Sector office again.
Signed Carl Barron Chairman of agpcuk
- Carl Barron, Christchurch, Dorset, 14/05/2009 12:59
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If they have played by the rules? why are they paying money back? If you are from a normal background you would be given a prison sentence for thid crime.
- Bryan Garrity, Gosport Hants, 14/05/2009 12:59
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They know what theyve done is wrong deep down.The Daily Telegraph will i hope expose them all. Thats why they are starting to come out of the woodwork before there faces are spread all over the papers. Nothing but legal thieving.
- Mr Kent, North Shields, 14/05/2009 12:59
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How could anybody claim that they ''mistakenly'' forgot that they were claiming for a expenses for 18 months for mortgage interest on a property that had no ''mortgage''!
It beggars belief! And a Court and Judge would or should find such a defence both laughable, incredulous and insulting to their intelligence like any reasonable honest man or woman who has paid their taxes and then find out that one of their ''Honourable'' (''law abiding''??) ''representatives'' is sucking the lifeblood from the people who pay them!! and taking from the hand that feeds them and pays their 'wages' and ''expenses''??? and ''dishonestly'' bleeding them and ordinary working people (and those on benefit - pensioners included - who are taxed too!!) dry!
Fortunately Euro-election are coming up on 4 June 2009 and we can cast out ALL those who made ''errors'' and ''mistakes'' in their claims for ''expenses''!
Pull the other one - it's got bells on it!
- Robin Hood, London, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Why are these MP's perceived to be above the law when it comes to prosecution for a crime they have commited? Even in a normal company making false claims for expenses is classed a gross misconduct and grounds for instant dismissal. Why haven't these MP's been dealt with accordingly?
- David James, Weymouth UK, 14/05/2009 12:59
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It is going to be very difficult to vote for any MP in the future. The good will be brought down by the bad.
- Albert Hall, hove england, 14/05/2009 12:59
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Pure Rip-off from top to bottom but Prosecution Free. Another Royal Family !
- A.Taxpayer, London, 14/05/2009 12:59
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What makes me laugh is when they keep saying - oh so earnestly! - that they are going to earn the public's trust back. I can't imagine how anyone will ever give any of them a second chance. I know I wouldn't.
- Sarah Bradshaw, Enfield, Middx, 14/05/2009 12:59
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I understand he has said that he will take full responsibility. I look forward to the prosecution.
- Ron, London, 14/05/2009 12:59
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