Labour suspends fraud charge MPs » Central Government » 24dash.com

The three Labour MPs facing criminal charges over their expenses claims were been suspended from the party today.

David Chaytor (pictured, right), Elliot Morley and Jim Devine (pictured left) are being prosecuted on several counts of false accounting.

A Labour spokesman said today they had been "administratively" suspended and would lose the whip in Parliament.

In a statement, Labour said: "The Labour Party's general secretary has today suspended David Chaytor, Jim Devine and Elliot Morley's membership of the Labour Party in light of the serious allegations against them.

"They had already been barred from standing for Parliament as Labour candidates.

"The decision follows a formal process which included representations from the Chief Whip and consultations with party officials over the weekend and means the three MPs have been suspended from the whip and cannot attend any Labour Party meetings."

The move came as Tory leader David Cameron sought to outflank Gordon Brown on the expenses issue.

Mr Cameron has already withdrawn the Conservative whip from Lord Hanningfield, who is also facing charges of false accounting.

In a speech today, he hit out at the "disgusting sight" of the Labour MPs claiming parliamentary privilege in an attempt to avoid prosecution for expenses abuses.

He accused the Prime Minister of helping to create the culture at Westminster which led to the expenses scandal and the collapse of public confidence in politics.

Mr Cameron has asked shadow leader of the House Sir George Young to draft a Parliamentary Privilege Act which would clarify the rules and prevent the principle being misused.

Mr Cameron, in a speech at the University of East London, said Mr Brown had shown he was not capable of dealing with the issues involved in reforming Parliament.

He described the decision to withdraw the whip from the three Labour MPs charged over the expenses scandal as a "humiliating" climbdown.

Mr Cameron accused the Prime Minister of helping to create the culture at Westminster that led to the expenses scandal and the collapse of public confidence in politics.

"How Gordon Brown can claim to be a reformer with a straight face I just don't know," he said.

"He can't reform the institution because he is the institution: he made it.

"The character of his Government - secretive, power-hoarding, controlling - is his character.

"Just as he's the roadblock to public service reform, he's the roadblock to political reform."

The three Labour MPs vowed to put up a robust defence after their charges were detailed by Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer on Friday.

They argue that they should have been dealt with by the Commons authorities rather than the police.

Mr Starmer said the MPs' lawyers had already indicated they were considering using parliamentary privilege as a defence.

Commons Leader Harriet Harman insisted today that she was "completely satisfied" that parliamentary privilege did not apply to cases like theft or fraud.

"The criminal law applies to MPs just the same as it does to everyone else," she told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, adding that Mr Starmer appeared to think the same.

Ms Harman also warned Mr Cameron against making comments that prejudiced any of the expenses cases coming before the courts.

"He's got to be very careful what he says or his comments might actually jeopardise the trial, and nobody wants to see that happen," she added.

Mr Morley, a former minister and the MP for Scunthorpe, is alleged to have dishonestly claimed a total of £30,428 more than he was entitled to in second home expenses.

Mr Chaytor, the Bury North MP, faces charges that he wrongly claimed more than £18,000 in rent and £1,950 for IT services.

Livingston MP Mr Devine is alleged to have dishonestly claimed £3,240 for cleaning services and £5,505 for stationery.

They will appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court - a few hundred yards from Parliament - on March 11. If found guilty, they could face jail sentences of up to seven years.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said Mr Brown did not believe that parliamentary privilege was intended to cover issues of this nature.

"If it proves necessary, the Government has said that it will legislate to clarify this," the spokesman said.

"The Prime Minister's view is very clear: no MP is above the law."

Mr Morley, Mr Devine and Mr Chaytor issued a joint statement today stressing that their legal costs were being "privately funded".

"Neither the Labour Party nor Gordon Brown has any involvement in our cases whatsoever," they said.

"On the issue of parliamentary privilege, our approach is not one of trying to avoid culpability or seek immunity, but simply to determine the correct forum in which to make our case.

"Indeed, the DPP in his statement on 5th February concluded the applicability and extent of any parliamentary privilege should be tested in court."

Shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve dismissed suggestions that Mr Cameron's comments had prejudiced the MPs' chances of a fair trial.

"I don't think that anything that David Cameron has said in any way impinges upon a fair trial. These individuals are innocent until proven guilty," he told BBC Radio 4's The World At One.

"But the issue of parliamentary privilege and the stir that the assertions that were made last week have caused with the public can't just be ignored.

"This issue, when the public are suddenly getting the impression that your expenses claim in the House of Commons might be covered by some privilege which prevents you being prosecuted, is not a matter we can ignore."