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Expenses charges decision awaited Four will face expenses charges
(about 10 hours later)
Prosecutors are due to reveal whether they intend to bring criminal charges against six MPs and peers over their expenses claims. Three Labour MPs and one Tory peer will face criminal charges over their expenses, Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer has said.
The statement by the Director of Public Prosecutions at 1100 GMT follows a police probe into six parliamentarians. MPs Elliot Morley, Jim Devine, David Chaytor and Lord Hanningfield will be charged under the Theft Act.
Police handed files on the six, whose names are unconfirmed, to the Crown Prosecution Service late last year. In a joint statement the MPs said they denied any charges and would "defend our position robustly".
It comes a day after 370 MPs were told to repay more than £1.1m related to second home expense claims since 2004. Revelations about MPs expenses emerged in May last year with the police going on to investigate a handful of cases.
The CPS decision will mark a new phase in the saga of parliamentary expenses which has dogged Parliament for the past 10 months and, party leaders agree, has tarnished its reputation. Labour peer Lord Clarke will not be charged but a sixth case remains under investigation, said Keir Starmer.
Public complaint Parliamentary privilege
Keir Starmer QC, director of public prosecutions, will announce a decision on "a number of files", but it remains unclear how many. Announcing the Crown Prosecution Service decision, Mr Starmer said: "In four cases, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges and that it is in the public interest to charge the individuals concerned.
The BBC has not been able to confirm the identities of the six files passed to the CPS and neither the police nor the CPS has ever confirmed the names of those under investigation. "Accordingly, summonses in these cases have been obtained from the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court and will now be served on the individuals in question."
Labour MPs David Chaytor and Elliot Morley, both of whom are standing down at the election, and Labour peer Baroness Uddin have been the subject of police investigations, while Labour MP Jim Devine, who has been deselected by his local party in Livingston, has been linked to the investigation. CPS statement on MPs' expenses
The Metropolitan Police began an investigation into a "small number" of MPs and peers in June after complaints by members of the public about alleged misuse of expenses disclosed by the Daily Telegraph. Mr Starmer also said that the lawyers acting for those involved had raised the issue of Parliamentary privilege - which grants MPs and peers special rights and has evolved over hundreds of years.
EXPENSES TIMELINE May 2009: Daily Telegraph publishes leaked details of MPs expensesJune: Police say they are investigating a "small number" of MPs and peers over their expensesNovember: Police pass files on four parliamentarians to the Crown Prosecution ServiceDecember: Police hand a further two files over class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8301443.stm">Q&A: Expenses row explained class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8497877.stm">Key points: Legg expenses report He added: "We have considered that question and concluded that the applicability and extent of any Parliamentary privilege claimed should be tested in court."
In November, it passed files on four people - from both houses of Parliament - to prosecutors, and a month later handed over files relating to another two individuals. Former minister Elliot Morley, MP for Scunthorpe, will be face two charges in relation to a total of £30,000 of mortgage interest claims on a property in Winterton, Lincolnshire between 2004 and 2007.
Police have made no arrests during their investigation, although it is understood some people have been interviewed under caution. Mortgage claims
In making its decision, the CPS has to weigh up whether there is a realistic chance of conviction in any of the cases, given the evidence available and the circumstances involved in the case. The charges allege he made claims "in excess of that to which he was entitled" and - for part of the period when "there was no longer a mortgage on that property".
If any were to face charges and be found guilty of fraud or false accounting, they could face maximum penalties of 10 or seven years in prison respectively. David Chaytor, MP for Bury North, is accused of "dishonestly claiming" £1,950 for IT services and further sums of £12, 925 and £5,425 relating to rent claims on properties which he and his mother allegedly owned.
However, any trial would be unlikely to take place before 2011. Livingston MP Jim Devine is accused of "dishonestly claiming" money for cleaning services and for stationery using false invoices.
The leaked publication of MPs claims in May, which triggered the police investigation, followed a long campaign by Parliament to delay publication of the details of individual claims. Speaking outside his home he said it was the charges that were being brought were new and could be easily explained adding: "I'm absolutely distraught and astonished at the decision that's been taken today."
On Thursday it emerged that 372 MPs have been asked to repay £1.1m after a review of all second home claims since 2004 by retired civil servant Sir Thomas Legg. We totally refute any charges that we have committed an offence and we will defend our position robustly Statement from Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine
Slightly fewer MPs - 363 in total - have been told they owe nothing. In a joint statement, the three MPs said they were "clearly extremely disappointed" that charges were being brought.
Despite the scale of the repayments, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Theresa May told BBC One's Question Time programme that the public still need to be convinced that politicians have cleaned up their act. "We totally refute any charges that we have committed an offence and we will defend our position robustly," the statement said.
"We are confident of our position and have been advised by eminent QCs."
They added that the issue should have been resolved by the Parliamentary Commissioner for standards and said while the expenses system had been "utterly discredited" they believed there had been "a complete inconsistency of approach to different individual cases".
Paul White - the Conservative peer Lord Hanningfield - is accused of "dishonestly" submitting claims "for expenses to which he knew he was not entitled" - including overnight stays in London.
He denied the charges and said he would "vigorously" defend himself against them adding: "All the claims I have ever made were made in good faith. I have never claimed more in expenses than I have spent in the course of my duties.
"To avoid any embarrassment or distraction for my party, I am standing down from my frontbench duties in the House of Lords with immediate effect."
The Conservatives have said he had been suspended from the parliamentary party.
The solicitors acting for Lord Clarke said he was "hugely relieved that the nine month investigation into his claims under the House of Lords' Allowances Scheme has ended at last, and that he has been cleared of having committed any criminal offence".