THE WESTMINSTER expenses scandal claimed its first casualties yesterday with Labour’s suspension of former minister Elliot Morley and the resignation of one of David Cameron’s key aides.
Meanwhile, with MPs, including those from Northern Ireland, braced for more damaging revelations to come, the sense of sleaze afflicting the whole of the Westminster Parliament heightened further with the proposed six-month suspension of two Labour peers after a House of Lords committee probed allegations that they had been willing to change legislation in return for cash.
On another day of political drama triggered by the Daily Telegraph's revelations, Commons Speaker Michael Martin also faced further calls from MPs and newspaper editorial to resign, or at least confirm his intention to stand down at the next election.
After the initial newspaper allegations against Labour peers Lord Truscott and Lord Taylor of Blackburn and two other colleagues, justice secretary Jack Straw had indicated that peers found guilty of serious misconduct could face expulsion.
However, Downing Street’s most immediate concern yesterday was with determining the fate of former minister Elliot Morley after the revelation that he had claimed £16,000 expenses toward a mortgage he had already paid off.
Mr Morley said he had made “a mistake”, been guilty of sloppy accounting and had already begun repaying the money.
But that was not enough to spare him the anger of Gordon Brown, who declared: “Where there is irregularity now it has got to be dealt with immediately. Where standards have been transgressed and the evidence has been shown to be there, action has got to be taken. Where disciplinary action is necessary, it will, and will immediately, be taken.”
With some Labour MPs suggesting that Mr Morley would probably have no choice but to stand down as an MP, party chief whip Nick Brown said the suspension of Mr Morley pending investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards was without any presumption of guilt.
According to the Telegraph account, Mr Morley continued claiming for mortgage interest on his Scunthorpe constituency home after the mortgage had been cleared. He subsequently “flipped” his designated second home to a London property he rented to a fellow Labour MP.
Labour’s move against Mr Morley followed Conservative leader David Cameron’s decision to accept Andrew MacKay’s resignation after he admitted that he and his MP-wife, Julie Kirkbride, had each been claiming tens of thousands of “second home” allowances against two separate properties.
Mr MacKay apologised “profusely” after admitting he had been claiming more than £1,000 a month toward their shared Westminster flat, while his wife made claims of over £900 a month on their family home in Bromsgrove.
Mr MacKay said it had never previously occurred to him that there was anything wrong with this arrangement, which had been in place for eight or nine years.
“Due to an error of judgment in accepting advice from the [House of Commons] Fees Office I have let people down,” he told the BBC: “Looking back now, it does look strange.”
Mr MacKay said he would pay the money back if so ordered by his party, and would hold a public meeting with constituents to enable them to question him.