Cameron points finger at Brown as fraud charge MPs suspended

THE three MPs facing theft charges over their expenses have been suspended by Labour as a day of bitter clashes between the parties led to a warning in the House of Commons not to jeopardise their trial.

Party officials announced yesterday that Scunthorpe MP Elliot Morley and fellow backbenchers David Chaytor and Jim Devine had been stripped of the whip after being charged under the Theft Act on Friday.

The Tories were highly critical of the timing having acted against Lord Hanningfield within hours of him being charged at the same time, with David Cameron accusing the Prime Minister of a “humiliating” climbdown and branding him a “roadblock to reform”.

The Tory leader also revealed he had asked for a new Parliamentary Privilege Act to be prepared to ensure it was not used by MPs to “evade justice” after the defendants insisted they should be dealt with by Commons authorities rather than the courts.

But after his intervention and a weekend of comment from other politicians – including Home Secretary Alan Johnson warning the public would be “aghast if there was a special get out of jail card for parliamentarians” – Commons Speaker John Bercow last night warned of the danger of prejudicing the trials and said the case should not be discussed in the Commons.

Mr Bercow said: “The House will be aware that charges have been made against three Members of the House and that therefore the sub judice rule applies to their cases.

“The matter is therefore before the courts and the House and Members would not wish to interfere with the judicial process, risk affecting the fairness of a criminal trial or, furthermore, prevent such a trial taking place.”

The Speaker also said last night that the “golden goodbye” payments for the three MPs would be suspended until legal proceedings are over

Mr Morley, a former Environment Minister, 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, and Livingston MP Mr Devine is alleged to have dishonestly claimed 3,240 for cleaning services and 5,505 for stationery.

If found guilty, they could face jail sentences of up to seven years although all have pledged to robustly defend themselves.

The three had all been suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party – although they were still obliged to vote with the party whip – when the allegations first arose, and they will all stand down at the general election after being barred from standing for the party again.

Labour’s general secretary Ray Collins 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.

“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 three MPs issued a joint statement defending their decision to raise the issue of parliamentary privilege, which prosecutors say must be tested in court.

“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,” they said.

“Indeed, the Director of Public Prosecutions in his statement on February 5 concluded the applicability and extent of any parliamentary privilege should be tested in court.”

In his speech at the University of East London, Mr Cameron said the Prime Minister had shown he was not capable of dealing with the issues involved in reforming Parliament and claimed the Tories had been shown to be in tune with the public.

Denis MacShane, Labour MP for Rotherham, claimed the comments had prejudiced any chance of the accused MPs and peer receiving a fair trial because they had been “effectively declared guilty by Mr Cameron”.

System is broken but politics can work again: Page 11.