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MPs whose expenses might interest the police
Evening Standard 18 May 2009MPs whose expenses might interest the police include:
David Chaytor - Labour, Bury N
Case for prosecution: Claimed almost £13,000 in interest payments on a mortgage that he had already paid off.
Defence: He apologised for an “unforgivable error” blaming the mistake on “a time of great personal and family stress”.
Shahid Malik -Labour, Dewsbury
Case for prosecution: He claimed £66,827 in three years on his London home, while designating his main residence to be a house in Dewsbury that he allegedly rented for just £100 a week.
Defence: He said he went “one million per cent” by the book and the £100 rent claim was a “fabrication”.
Elliot Morley - Labour, Scunthorpe
Case for prosecution: He claimed over £16,000 in interest payments on a mortgage that he had already paid off.
Defence: He apologised for a “mistake” but insisted he believed no offence had been committed.
Andrew MacKay - Conservative, Bracknell
Case for the prosecution: He claimed £140,000 or more on his London home, calling it a second home, putting down as “main residence” a home that taxpayers were already funding as the second home of his wife, fellow MP Julie Kirkbride.
Defence: He said the arrangement was approved by a senior Commons official several years ago and he believed there was nothing wrong until it was made public, when he apologised for “letting a lot of people down”.
Ben Chapman -Labour, Wirral S
Case for the prosecution: He claimed £15,000 over 10 months for a mortgage that no longer existed.
Defence: The payments were approved by Commons officials who knew all the facts and he says he did nothing wrong.
Reader views (1)
If Manchester United put out a defence like that, they'd be playing in the Blue Square Premier division. Red card the lot !
- Doug Watt, london e14, 18/05/2009 10:49
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