MPs could avoid court over charges

GORDON Brown said he was "very angry" over allegations of expense abuses as three MPs and a Tory Peer prepared to claim Parliamentary privilege should protect them from the law.

Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), said lawyers had raised the issue, causing immediate concern about the possibility that by claiming the expenses rules are privileged and therefore cannot be challenged in the courts, MPs may be able to avoid prosecution.

But announcing his decision to press charges, Mr Starmer said: "Lawyers representing those who have been charged have raised with us the question of parliamentary privilege. We have considered that question and concluded that the applicability and extent of any parliamentary privilege claimed should be tested in court."

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In their joint statement, the three MPs said they believed they should be dealt with by the parliamentary authorities rather than the courts.

However, Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesman David Heath said: "There should be no question of MPs or peers charged with serious criminal offences sheltering behind parliamentary privilege.

"We do not have immunity from prosecution for parliamentarians in this country. Parliamentary privilege exists purely to ensure we can do our job properly, not to protect us from the law."

And former chairman of the sleaze watchdog Committee on Standards in Public Life, Sir Alistair Graham, said: "I don't see how they could be protected by parliamentary privilege."

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Lawyer Jeremy Summers, a partner at Russell Jones & Walker, said: "Representations are likely to have been made that parliamentary privilege should prevent a prosecution, and the CPS has clearly considered the matter at the highest level and taken advice from leading counsel."

The decision to prosecute Scunthorpe MP Elliot Morley, fellow Labour backbenchers David Chaytor and Jim Devine, and Tory Peer Lord Hanningfield makes it unlikely a line can be drawn under the expenses crisis at Westminster any time soon.Yesterday Mr Morley was keeping a low profile, although Mr Devine defended himself in front of the cameras. Mr Chaytor was in the House of Commons speaking in a debate shortly before the Crown Prosecution Service made its announcement.

All three have already announced they are quitting at the election.

Lord Hanningfield was forced to quit the Tory front bench in the Lords and decided to step down as leader of Essex County Council, while David Cameron moved to withdraw the party whip.

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The Prime Minister said he was "very angry" over the alleged abuses.

"We took steps some months ago to remove the right of these people to stand as candidates for the Labour Party. These are very serious criminal allegations," he added.

"All criminal allegations have got to be investigated. It's a matter now for the courts. We have got to get rid of that old politics, it cannot be part of the new system."

Tory leader David Cameron said: "I have always said right from the start – in fact, I was the first politician to say it – the police and prosecution authorities should prosecute anybody who has broken the law without fear or favour."