gmb45
20th June, 2009, 05:11 AM
FOUR MPs were targeted along with two peers in a Scotland Yard probe last night - as the ink was barely dry on their blacked-out expenses.
The criminal investigation - which could see honourable members end up in JAIL - was ordered a day after MPs' expense claims were officially published with details of suspected frauds pitifully deleted.
Cops were finally ordered in after the previously leaked uncensored version exposed "flipping" of designated second homes so MPs could claim expenses on them - and reimbursements for phantom mortgages.
Moneygrubbers who will be quizzed by detectives include Labour's ex-farms minister Elliot Morley - who pocketed ?16,800 over 18 months for a mortgage that had been paid off. He repaid the money - claiming it was an honest mistake - amid uproar at grasping MPs milking their allowances.
Misuse
Mr Morley also announced he will step down from his S****horpe seat at the next election.
UK Parliament - Members' allowances (http://www.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/finances.cfm)
Officers led by acting Commander Nigel Mawer will also grill Labour's Bury North MP David Chaytor.
He was suspended by the party when it emerged he claimed ?1,175 a month in interest on a London flat from September 2005 to August 2006 despite paying off the loan in 2004. The amount totalled ?13,000.
Last night he said he welcomed the police probe.
The MP insisted: "I have acknowledged there has been an error here and I want to clear my name."
Labour peer Baroness Uddin - accused of pocketing ?100,000 by claiming her main home was an empty Kent flat - will also be investigated. The names of her House of Lords colleague and the two other MPs being probed were not revealed. Lord Clarke and Baroness Thornton - both Labour peers - have had their expenses scrutinised.
Scotland Yard confirmed in a statement: "After consideration by the Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service Assessment Panel, the Met has decided to launch an investigation into the alleged misuse of expenses by a small number of MPs and peers."
The move - a week after cops said there would be NO inquiry - comes after a panel was set up from the Yard's specialist Crime Directorate in the wake of the expenses uproar. Crown Prosecution Service lawyers were consulted over whether some claims were illegal.
Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer were also involved in discussions.
They are understood to have examined whether home "flipping" - where for expenses purposes MPs swapped the address they claimed was their second home - was a crime.
But they decided it was not against the rules laid down by the Commons Fees Office.
Gordon Brown last night reacted to the ridicule at how heavily MPs' published expenses were censored.
The PM, who has ordered a shake-up of the entire system, vowed to put an end to the practice, called "redacting".
He said: "A new, far more transparent system, is being introduced."
His pledge came as David Cameron ordered his front bench team to publish their expense claims online.
The Tory leader declared: "The heavily censored publication yesterday of MPs' expenses did nothing to improve the reputation of Parliament." Meanwhile Business Secretary Lord Mandelson described the police investigation as "inevitable".
He told the BBC: "If there is wrongdoing it needs to be investigated." Last night it emerged more than 50 MPs pocketed thousands in phantom council tax claims. Labour's Eric Illsley trousered ?6,000 more than his actual bills. Ex-Home Secretary David Blunkett is alleged to have overclaimed ?180.
Some bills were rounded up. Other MPs submitted claims every month - despite council tax being paid in ten instalments a year. Up to 18 MPs quietly repaid overpayments.
The police inquiry will be overseen by Assistant Commissioner Janet Williams, who heads the Met's Economic and Specialist Crime Command.
Angus Robertson - Westminster leader of the Scottish National Party - wrote to police over the scandal of Baroness Uddin demanding they investigate.
She received ?100,000 from the taxpayer after claiming her home in London was her second one - while designating her main address as a two-bed flat in Maidstone which neighbours said had not been lived in for years.
A top legal source said: "Those investigated will be questioned at some point under caution for a full explanation of their expense claims."
A Labour Party spokesman said: "It would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing police investigation.
"However we always expect all Labour Party representatives and members to cooperate fully with the police."
Tory MP Bill Wiggin and Labour's Ben Chapman WILL NOT be investigated by Scotland Yard because they had been given permission by the Parliamentary Fees Offices to make their claims.
AN expenses claim for ?125 by Tory MP David Tredinnick after he attended an "intimate relationships" course was vetoed, it emerged last night.
The criminal investigation - which could see honourable members end up in JAIL - was ordered a day after MPs' expense claims were officially published with details of suspected frauds pitifully deleted.
Cops were finally ordered in after the previously leaked uncensored version exposed "flipping" of designated second homes so MPs could claim expenses on them - and reimbursements for phantom mortgages.
Moneygrubbers who will be quizzed by detectives include Labour's ex-farms minister Elliot Morley - who pocketed ?16,800 over 18 months for a mortgage that had been paid off. He repaid the money - claiming it was an honest mistake - amid uproar at grasping MPs milking their allowances.
Misuse
Mr Morley also announced he will step down from his S****horpe seat at the next election.
UK Parliament - Members' allowances (http://www.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/finances.cfm)
Officers led by acting Commander Nigel Mawer will also grill Labour's Bury North MP David Chaytor.
He was suspended by the party when it emerged he claimed ?1,175 a month in interest on a London flat from September 2005 to August 2006 despite paying off the loan in 2004. The amount totalled ?13,000.
Last night he said he welcomed the police probe.
The MP insisted: "I have acknowledged there has been an error here and I want to clear my name."
Labour peer Baroness Uddin - accused of pocketing ?100,000 by claiming her main home was an empty Kent flat - will also be investigated. The names of her House of Lords colleague and the two other MPs being probed were not revealed. Lord Clarke and Baroness Thornton - both Labour peers - have had their expenses scrutinised.
Scotland Yard confirmed in a statement: "After consideration by the Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service Assessment Panel, the Met has decided to launch an investigation into the alleged misuse of expenses by a small number of MPs and peers."
The move - a week after cops said there would be NO inquiry - comes after a panel was set up from the Yard's specialist Crime Directorate in the wake of the expenses uproar. Crown Prosecution Service lawyers were consulted over whether some claims were illegal.
Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer were also involved in discussions.
They are understood to have examined whether home "flipping" - where for expenses purposes MPs swapped the address they claimed was their second home - was a crime.
But they decided it was not against the rules laid down by the Commons Fees Office.
Gordon Brown last night reacted to the ridicule at how heavily MPs' published expenses were censored.
The PM, who has ordered a shake-up of the entire system, vowed to put an end to the practice, called "redacting".
He said: "A new, far more transparent system, is being introduced."
His pledge came as David Cameron ordered his front bench team to publish their expense claims online.
The Tory leader declared: "The heavily censored publication yesterday of MPs' expenses did nothing to improve the reputation of Parliament." Meanwhile Business Secretary Lord Mandelson described the police investigation as "inevitable".
He told the BBC: "If there is wrongdoing it needs to be investigated." Last night it emerged more than 50 MPs pocketed thousands in phantom council tax claims. Labour's Eric Illsley trousered ?6,000 more than his actual bills. Ex-Home Secretary David Blunkett is alleged to have overclaimed ?180.
Some bills were rounded up. Other MPs submitted claims every month - despite council tax being paid in ten instalments a year. Up to 18 MPs quietly repaid overpayments.
The police inquiry will be overseen by Assistant Commissioner Janet Williams, who heads the Met's Economic and Specialist Crime Command.
Angus Robertson - Westminster leader of the Scottish National Party - wrote to police over the scandal of Baroness Uddin demanding they investigate.
She received ?100,000 from the taxpayer after claiming her home in London was her second one - while designating her main address as a two-bed flat in Maidstone which neighbours said had not been lived in for years.
A top legal source said: "Those investigated will be questioned at some point under caution for a full explanation of their expense claims."
A Labour Party spokesman said: "It would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing police investigation.
"However we always expect all Labour Party representatives and members to cooperate fully with the police."
Tory MP Bill Wiggin and Labour's Ben Chapman WILL NOT be investigated by Scotland Yard because they had been given permission by the Parliamentary Fees Offices to make their claims.
AN expenses claim for ?125 by Tory MP David Tredinnick after he attended an "intimate relationships" course was vetoed, it emerged last night.