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Top Labour and Tory MPs are first victims in expenses scandal
Joe Murphy, Paul Waugh and Nicholas Cecil14 May 2009
- Ex-minister pays the price for ghost mortgage
- Cameron aide quits over home that did not exist
- Profile: Mr and Mrs Expenses
- Lords face suspension in sanction not used since 1642
- Opposition MPs line up to denounce wounded Speaker
- What they claimed: MPs expenses in full
- Anger over ‘cosy club’ that turns blind eye to milking of system
A former minister was suspended in a day of panic-induced scalpings at Westminster which also saw a Tory MP resign as aide to David Cameron and two peers publicly disgraced over sleaze.
On the blackest day yet to hit Parliament, former agriculture minister Elliot Morley was suspended from the Labour whip for claiming £16,000 in interest on a mortgage that didn't exist.
In a personal statement Mr Morley said he had made a mistake and added: “I apologise unreservedly.” He now must clear his name or be banned from standing again as a Labour MP.
TaxPayers' Alliance chief Matthew Elliott said he would consider bringing a private prosecution against Mr Morley if no police action was taken.
Meanwhile, senior Tory MP Andrew MacKay quit as political adviser to the Conservative leader after claiming £140,000 in second home allowance for the London house he shared with his wife, Bromsgrove Tory MP Julie Kirkbride, when he did not have a proper second home. Ms Kirkbride — who had the London house registered as her main residence — claimed a second home allowance for a house in her constituency.
Meanwhile, two Labour peers faced the shame of being the first members of the Lords to be suspended since Oliver Cromwell's days. Lord Taylor of Blackburn and Lord Truscott were found to have offered to amend legislation for money.
The shaming of Parliament saw both big party leaders get tough against MPs. The Prime Minister decided to suspend Mr Morley indefinitely while his conduct is investigated by Commons watchdog John Lyon. Critics asked why the action was not taken more than a week ago when the MP first confessed to chief whip Nick Brown that his expenses were awry.
The affair overshadowed the launch of Labour's Euro elections campaign in Derbyshire, where Mr Brown announced his decision. “Where standards are transgressed and mistakes are made, we have got to take action,” he said.
Mr Cameron interrupted a campaign trip in Cornwall to pledge a clean-up. He said: “We know how angry people are. We know how disappointed they are.”
There were rumours of bigger scandals to come, possibly involving Cabinet ministers.
Vandals today carved a pound sign in the lawn of Tory MP Alan Duncan, who claimed over £4,000 for gardening.
