Guilty: Morley admits falsely claiming MP expenses
Former environment minister Elliot Morley has pleaded guilty to being Parliament’s biggest expenses cheat.
The ex-Labour MP dishonestly claimed £32,000 on mortgage payments.
Morley is the first ex-minister to face jail over the expenses scandal which rocked Westminster.
Just days before he was due to face court, Morley entered two guilty pleas for false accounting over claims made against his home in Winterton, near Scunthorpe, Lincs, between 2004 and 2007.
“In doing so, he has accepted that his repeated and fraudulent claims for one mortgage that had been paid off and his excessive claims for another were not legitimate in any way.” Crown Prosecutor Simon Clements
The 58-year-old wrongly filled out a total of 40 forms relating to payments for his home.
Lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Simon Clements said: “Elliot Morley has today admitted his dishonesty.
“In doing so, he has accepted that his repeated and fraudulent claims for one mortgage that had been paid off and his excessive claims for another were not legitimate in any way.
“Mr Morley had claimed he was unaware the mortgage had been paid off. For most of us, paying off the mortgage is a red letter day and members of the public have found it difficult to comprehend his explanation that he was not aware that had happened.”
Critics say it is “insulting” that Morley failed to admit to his crimes earlier.
Emma Boon, campaign director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “It’s a shame that Morley took so long to make an admission of guilt. Along with former MPs David Chaytor and Jim Devine, Mr Morley had tried unsuccessfully to argue that his case should be heard by parliament, not the criminal courts.
“Taxpayers had to suffer the insult not only of him stealing from them, but then lying about it for so long and dragging out an expensive prosecution.”
“Taxpayers had to suffer the insult not only of him stealing from them, but then lying about it for so long and dragging out an expensive prosecution.” Emma Boon, TaxPayers’ Alliance
An MP for Scunthorpe since 1987, Morley was one of Labour’s most prominent voices on agricultural issues and the environment.
He was party spokesman on rural affairs and animal welfare from 1989 until the 1997 election victory, and served under Tony Blair as environment minister from 2003 to 2006.
Former MPs Jim Devine, David Chaytor and Eric Illsley have already been jailed after pleading guilty of falsely claiming expenses.
Former Tory peer Lord Taylor of Warwick awaits sentencing after being convicted by a jury in January of falsely claiming more than £11,000 for travel and overnight subsistence.