Re-elected Yorkshire Labour MP charged over expenses claims

The Barnsley Central MP, re-elected for Labour with a majority of more than 11,000 in a seat he has held since 1987, will appear in court next month to face three charges of false accounting under the Theft Act.

Mr Illsley is accused of falsely claiming 20,000 in claims for council tax, maintenance, insurance and utilities on his second home in London over three years between 2005 and 2008.

Police stepped in to investigate the former National Union of Mineworkers official after allegations he had claimed over 10,000 for council tax in four years even though he had only been charged 3,966. Under the lax expenses system, he regularly submitted claims for 200 a month without needing to submit receipts.

But despite handing over a file to prosecutors on March 30 – a week before the General Election was called – it was only yesterday the charges were announced.

He has been suspended from the Labour Party.

During the campaign Gordon Brown had urged candidates to come clean about any expenses issues – saying they had to be "open" – and last night Piers Tempest, the Tory candidate who stood against Mr Illsley, said the timing of the announcement about charges was "surprising".

The Yorkshire Post has learned that party officials had "concerns" about the allegations against Mr Illsley before the election and he was made aware that any post-election action against him would cause problems for the party.

But he is said to have been adamant the police investigation would come to nothing, and without any hard evidence that he may have been about to be charged party officials felt helpless to stop him standing. Pressure at Westminster also failed to convince him to step aside.

The announcement of charges comes just days before the cases of three former MPs – who all quit at the General Election – return to court. Ex-Scunthorpe MP Elliot Morley is facing charges of theft by false accounting, along with former Labour colleagues David Chaytor, from Todmorden, and Jim Devine.

Tory Peer Lord Hanningfield is accused of making false claims.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said: "Having thoroughly reviewed a file of evidence we received from the Metropolitan Police on March 30 this year, we concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to bring criminal charges against Eric Illsley MP.

"Mr Illsley faces three charges under section 17 of the Theft Act 1968 for false accounting."

It is alleged Mr Illsley dishonestly claimed expenses at his second home in Renfrew Road, Kennington, south London, between May 2005 and April 2008.

The news prompted immediate action from the Labour Party which said he had been suspended from the Whip.

Shadow Home Secretary Alan Johnson, MP for Hull West and Hessle, said: "I'm very sad that another Member of Parliament is going before the courts but that's what needs to happen if the public prosecutor, the CPS, decides that this is a criminal issue. It's right that it proceeds to court." He added that Mr Illsley and the other politicians facing charges were "innocent until proven guilty".

STALWART AT HOME IN TOWN

Born in a council house in Barnsley, the only time Eric Illsley has not lived in the South Yorkshire town is when he went to study law at Leeds University.

After university he began work as a compensation officer for the National Union of Mineworkers in 1978, the same year he married wife Dawn. He went on to become the Head of the union's general department.

The father-of-two was elected as MP for Barnsley Central on June 11, 1987, and has held the seat ever since.