Disgraced MP in £14,000 expenses fraud facing calls to quit

Published by Ross Macmillan for 24dash.com in Central Government and also in Communities, Local Government

Disgraced Eric Illsley was facing demands for his immediate resignation as an MP tonight after admitting dishonestly claiming £14,000 in parliamentary expenses.

Labour leader Ed Miliband insisted the member for Barnsley Central should do the "right thing" and go voluntarily after it emerged he could keep his job and salary even if a jail term is imposed.

Illsley became the first sitting member convicted for abusing expenses when he changed his pleas to guilty at the start of his trial.

He had previously denied dishonestly claiming a total of more than £25,000, arguing that lax Commons allowances were designed to "supplement" the income of politicians.

But his barrister William Coker QC said his client admitted wrongly obtaining a revised sum of about £14,500.

The claims were made for council tax, telephone usage, service charges and maintenance, and insurance and repairs at his second home in Renfrew Road, Kennington, south London.

In a five-minute hearing, the disgraced MP, who has already been suspended by the Labour Party, sat in the dock rubbing his face and frowning.

He spoke only to confirm his pleas, saying "guilty" to the three charges of false accounting relating to three years of expenses on his second home in London.

Prosecutor Peter Wright QC said the Crown accepted the revised figure for the dishonest claims.

The judge adjourned the hearing for four weeks for a pre-sentence report.

Illsley left court alone and refused to answer questions from journalists. But Simon Clements, head of the Crown PS Special Crime Division, said: "This was a significant sum of money and the grossly inflated claims he submitted could not be attributed to an oversight or accounting error - indeed he claimed that the expenses system was a way of supplementing Members' salaries.

"By his guilty pleas he has accepted that he was dishonest in making these claims.

"As an elected representative, Eric Illsley took advantage of the trust placed in him by his constituents to act honourably on their behalf.

"Instead, he siphoned off public money into his own pockets and betrayed those who rightly expected the highest standards of integrity from him as a Member of Parliament."

The Representation of the People Act 1981 disqualifies MPs if they receive a custodial sentence of 12 months or more. In those circumstances, their seat is automatically vacated and a by-election held.

However, there is no set mechanism for expelling members who are handed shorter jail terms.

The Commons authorities indicated that the whole House would need to pass a resolution removing him from his seat.

Mr Miliband said his former MP could no longer be a "credible voice" for his constituents.

"Eric Illsley has been found guilty of a very serious charge. He is no longer a Labour MP and I think he should now do the right thing and resign as an MP," he said.

"I do not think he can be a credible voice for his constituents having pleaded guilty to such a serious offence."

A senior party source added: "If he does not resign we will work with others to remove him from Parliament."

On Friday, former Labour MP David Chaytor - who stood down at the general election - became the first person to be jailed over the expenses scandal.

He was sentenced to 18 months after admitting he forged tenancy documents and invoices to falsely claim more than £22,000 of taxpayers' money for rent and IT work from House of Commons authorities.

Campaigning group the Sunlight Centre launched an online petition calling on Illsley to quit immediately.

And TaxPayers' Alliance director Matthew Sinclair said: "Taxpayers will be glad to see that justice is finally being done. But they will be outraged that any MP was able to dishonestly claim tens of thousands of pounds of their money in the first place," he added.

"It is disgraceful that Illsley has dragged out the process and stood for Parliament again, despite knowing that he was a guilty criminal who had ripped off the taxpayers whose interests he was supposed to serve.

"He should have stepped down before the election and offered his constituents a fair alternative."

He called for a "severe" punishment to be handed down to send a message that MPs are not above the law.

"Illsley should resign immediately and should never stand as an MP again because he has admitted to abusing the public's trust so flagrantly."