Outrage at ‘scapegoat’ claim by ex-MP jailed for expenses fraud

The former Barnsley Central MP said he was annoyed that other MPs escaped punishment because they were never investigated in the wake of the expenses scandal. He claimed he should have been allowed to apologise in the House of Commons – as former Cabinet Minister David Laws was this week for breaking Commons rules – and carry on in the job rather than being dragged through the courts.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he was “lost for words” after hearing of the outburst, just hours after Illsley was released on a home curfew only a quarter of the way into his sentence.

Illsley’s release came as a Labour MP wrote to the police asking them to investigate Mr Laws’s expense claims, the day after the Liberal Democrat apologised to MPs and was suspended from the Commons for seven days after being found guilty of six breached of parliamentary rules.

Thomas Docherty said the public would “rightly asked if there is one law for David Laws, and another for them”, if the matter was not referred to police. Mr Laws broke Commons rules by claiming allowances to pay his partner James Lundie rent, although it was accepted that his motive was to avoid outing himself as gay, rather than profit.

Police have investigated a handful of MPs over their expenses so far, with former Labour members Illsley, Jim Devine and David Chaytor all jailed so far. Ex-Scunthorpe MP Elliot Morley is due to be sentenced next week after pleading guilty to dishonestly claiming more than £30,000.

Illsley said he had admitted his wrongdoing – after submitting inflated claims over several years – but complained that he had been treated more harshly than others.

He said in an interview: “I was aware of what people were thinking at the time of my prosecution.

“What a lot of people don’t know and still don’t know is only a handful of MPs were ever investigated. A lot of people think, ‘He’s done wrong’...but aren’t aware that lots of other MPs were in exactly the same situation.

“My case shouldn’t have been brought before the courts. I should have been allowed to carry on, apologise to the House and get on with my career.

“What I would say is that I wasn’t allowed – or my case didn’t allow me – to highlight the fact I’d done nowt different from a lot of other MPs who are simply keeping their head down and carrying on and are quite happy to see me being a scapegoat. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.”

Illsley said he wanted to draw a line under the issue, saying: “I’ve pleaded guilty, I’ve done my prison time, I’ve paid me penalty, I’ve done my punishment.

“My annoyance is there’s so many others who are going to walk free and nobody’s going to say a dicky bird about their situation, but that’s life.”

Reacting to the claims, Mr Clegg said: “I am lost for words. He broke the law, the case was referred by the CPS to the courts and he was found guilty. End of story.”

The director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, Matthew Sinclair, added: “People find it frustrating enough when ordinary criminals get off having only served a fraction of their sentence, they will be furious that Eric Illsley is getting out so early after stealing from the taxpayers he was supposed to represent.

“Action needed to be taken to draw a line under the expenses scandal, and make it clear that guilty MPs can’t get off easy.

“As he is still absurdly claiming to be a scapegoat, there is no sign he has shown genuine remorse for his crime.”