Accused former Minister Morley hits out over 'golden goodbye'

The Scunthorpe MP, who is one of three MPs facing charges of false accounting over their expenses, said Commons officials were not treating him fairly and said he was being treated as "guilty until proven innocent".

Speaker John Bercow's order to withhold the payments to the three MPs, who are all quitting at the General Election, followed the announcement last Friday that the Crown Prosecution Service was pressing charges and their suspension by the Labour Party on Monday.

In an interview with a local newspaper, Mr Morley said: "I think withholding the resettlement goes against natural justice. In effect, it turns common law around, which judges me guilty until proven innocent. It is one of the many ways I have not been treated fairly.

"What happens in the legal outcome is a matter of conjecture and would be for the House to decide. I would point out I have repaid in full and do not owe any money in relation to expenses."

MPs leaving Parliament at an election are usually entitled to a resettlement grant worth up to a year's salary – just under 65,000.

Mr Morley was charged under the Theft Act over allegations he "dishonestly" claimed more than 30,000 in mortgage interest repayments on his second home in Winterton, Lincolnshire.

Mr Bercow said he had been supported by senior MPs on the cross-party Members' Estimate Committee in suspending the resettlement payments for Mr Morley and fellow backbenchers David Chaytor and Jim Devine.