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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Police to look at MP allegations | Police to look at MP allegations |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Allegations about MPs' allowances are to be examined by a panel of police officers and lawyers amid growing calls for action over the expenses scandal. | Allegations about MPs' allowances are to be examined by a panel of police officers and lawyers amid growing calls for action over the expenses scandal. |
| Met officers and Crown Prosecution Service lawyers will look at complaints made against individual MPs to see if they merit a criminal investigation. | Met officers and Crown Prosecution Service lawyers will look at complaints made against individual MPs to see if they merit a criminal investigation. |
| MPs from all parties have repaid thousands of pounds for claims made. | MPs from all parties have repaid thousands of pounds for claims made. |
| Labour minister Shahid Malik stood down on Friday pending an inquiry into his expenses, and has defended his actions. | |
| On Friday evening Mr Malik's Dewsbury Constituency Labour Party gave its unanimous support to the MP, saying they believed his "integrity is completely intact". | |
| A week after the Daily Telegraph began publishing details of expense claims, many MPs felt events were now "spiralling out of control", said BBC political correspondent Jo Coburn. | A week after the Daily Telegraph began publishing details of expense claims, many MPs felt events were now "spiralling out of control", said BBC political correspondent Jo Coburn. |
| While it was known the complaints made to police could come to nothing, it came as "little comfort" to MPs returning to their constituencies on Friday, she added. | While it was known the complaints made to police could come to nothing, it came as "little comfort" to MPs returning to their constituencies on Friday, she added. |
| Stream of allegations | Stream of allegations |
| In a joint statement, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the panel would hold its first meeting next week. | In a joint statement, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the panel would hold its first meeting next week. |
| Public anger over the behaviour of MPs has grown as the Daily Telegraph has published details of individual expense claims made over the past few years. | Public anger over the behaviour of MPs has grown as the Daily Telegraph has published details of individual expense claims made over the past few years. |
| Due to the increase in... allegations [we have] decided to convene a panel to assess allegations... to decide whether criminal investigations should be started Joint CPS-MPS statement Calls to prosecute expenses MPs Expense row minister steps down | Due to the increase in... allegations [we have] decided to convene a panel to assess allegations... to decide whether criminal investigations should be started Joint CPS-MPS statement Calls to prosecute expenses MPs Expense row minister steps down |
| Liberal Democrat Culture spokesman Richard and Tory MP Nadine Dorries are among the latest MPs to feature in the newspaper's online edition. | |
| Mr Younger-Ross, who represents Teignbridge in Devon, said he had repaid more than £4,000 claimed. | |
| His claims included four mirrors costing a total of £1,235, a £1,120 hi-fi, a £500 bookcase and a £1,475 chest of drawers for his rented London flat. | |
| Mr Younger-Ross said he was given no advice on how to spend his allowances for living in London, except that it should not include luxury or antique items. | Mr Younger-Ross said he was given no advice on how to spend his allowances for living in London, except that it should not include luxury or antique items. |
| "What I did not at the time consider to be luxury items, and what the House of Commons did not advise me were luxury items, clearly now are considered as such. I have therefore repaid £4,333.35," he said. | "What I did not at the time consider to be luxury items, and what the House of Commons did not advise me were luxury items, clearly now are considered as such. I have therefore repaid £4,333.35," he said. |
| He added that he had campaigned for the abolition of the expenses system and believed the House should provide furnished accommodation to eliminate the need for claims for additional costs. | He added that he had campaigned for the abolition of the expenses system and believed the House should provide furnished accommodation to eliminate the need for claims for additional costs. |
| Hotel claim | Hotel claim |
| Writing in her blog, Ms Dorries rejected a string of allegations about her expenses in a lengthy reply to the Daily Telegraph. | |
| The paper said she had "admitted" only spending free weekends and holidays in the property she calls her main home. | |
| Instead, the paper said, she spent most of her time in a rented house in her constituency for which she claimed £18,000 second home expenses over two years. | |
| Ms Dorries said she rented a house/office/surgery in her constituency but added: "On the weekends I have free, and during the recess, I go somewhere else. I am not publishing the address." | |
| She also denied allegations she had tried to claim on her second home allowance for a hotel room just before Christmas and another on New Year's Eve - a claim refused by the Fees Office because the House of Commons was in recess. | She also denied allegations she had tried to claim on her second home allowance for a hotel room just before Christmas and another on New Year's Eve - a claim refused by the Fees Office because the House of Commons was in recess. |
| She wrote in her blog that she had had a party at home on the New Year's Eve in question. | She wrote in her blog that she had had a party at home on the New Year's Eve in question. |
| Minister steps down | Minister steps down |
| The paper's disclosures have already led to the suspension of one former Labour minister, Elliot Morley. | |
| On Friday, justice minister Mr Malik stepped down pending investigations by ministerial standards watchdog Sir Philip Mawer. | |
| A senior adviser to David Cameron, Tory MP Andrew MacKay, was also forced to relinquish his post after the party said claims he had made towards his second home were "unacceptable". | A senior adviser to David Cameron, Tory MP Andrew MacKay, was also forced to relinquish his post after the party said claims he had made towards his second home were "unacceptable". |
| The Met said it had already held meetings with the CPS about allegations made over parliamentary expenses, even before the newspaper began its campaign, but had now decided to act. | |
| "Due to the increase in subsequent allegations received by the MPS, the Commissioner and Director of Public Prosecutions have jointly decided to convene a panel to assess allegations in order to decide whether criminal investigations should be started," a spokesman said. | "Due to the increase in subsequent allegations received by the MPS, the Commissioner and Director of Public Prosecutions have jointly decided to convene a panel to assess allegations in order to decide whether criminal investigations should be started," a spokesman said. |
| It's just like the financial crisis, there are now toxic assets in the system and the whole system is tainted by it Lord Falconer | |
| There had been growing calls for a police investigation into some of the claims. | There had been growing calls for a police investigation into some of the claims. |
| The Mayor of Middlesbrough and former senior police officer Ray Mallon called for the police to look into allegations against MPs on the grounds of potential fraud - the most high-profile figure to do so. | |
| And the TaxPayers' Alliance has complained to police about Elliot Morley, who claimed £16,000 for a mortgage he had already paid off. | |
| The campaign group joined forces with the Daily Mail newspaper to raise funds for private criminal prosecutions of MPs, if the authorities failed to act. | The campaign group joined forces with the Daily Mail newspaper to raise funds for private criminal prosecutions of MPs, if the authorities failed to act. |
| The group's Mark Wallace said people were appalled MPs thought they could rectify the situation by paying back the money that had been wrongly claimed. | |
| "If somebody burgles a house and they take a television and they are caught, they can't say to the police, 'Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I'll give the television back,'"he said. | "If somebody burgles a house and they take a television and they are caught, they can't say to the police, 'Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I'll give the television back,'"he said. |
| London Mayor Boris Johnson had also suggested calling in the police. | London Mayor Boris Johnson had also suggested calling in the police. |
| 'Call election' - poll | |
| Former MP Martin Bell has said corruption is endemic in the Commons and has called for "by-elections, de-selections maybe even prosecutions" over the expenses controversy. | |
| Interviewed for the BBC's Politics Show on Sunday, the ex-Tatton MP said Commons Speaker Michael Martin was "obviously" part of the problem and "had to go". | |
| He ruled himself out of returning to politics but said it could provide "an opportunity for independents to challenge tainted MPs of the mainstream parties". | |
| Lord Falconer - who served as Lord Chancellor under Tony Blair - said the situation for the whole parliamentary system was dreadful and every politician was to blame. | |
| "We may not individually be people who have abused the expenses system, but it's just like the financial crisis, there are now toxic assets in the system and the whole system is tainted by it," he said. | |
| Meanwhile one poll conducted for the BBC has suggested nearly two in three voters believe a general election should be called as soon as possible, in the wake of the controversy. | |
| The ComRes survey for BBC Two's Daily Politics found 65% agreed, compared with 33% who disagreed. | |
| A similar number - 64% - said they believed politicians "named and shamed" in newspaper revelations should be forced to quit Parliament. | |
| On whether the controversy might affect turnouts in the European elections, 28% said they were less likely to vote as a result, while 25% said it had made them more eager to cast their ballot, and 47% said it would not affect their decision. | |
| ComRes spoke to 1,011 voters between May 13 and 14. |