Overview

In a much anticipated decision Mr Justice Saunders has ruled that three former Labour MPs and a Conservative peer are not entitled to protection from prosecution by parliamentary privilege against charges brought in the wake of the expenses scandal.

Elliot Morley, David Chaytor, Jim Devine and Lord Hanningfield are all charged with false accounting under the Theft Act, and if found guilty could each face up to seven years in prison. The charges represented the culmination of a nine month police investigation during which it was alleged that the men each claimed thousands of pounds in parliamentary expenses to which they were not entitled.

Mr Justice Saunders, sitting in Southwark Crown Court, found that although the processing of an expenses claim form is part of parliamentary procedure, the decision to submit one is not. The Judge drew an analogy with a slot machine, noting that the coin put in the slot does not form part of the machinery, but does however set the machinery in motion; such is the case with an expense form, which when submitted sets part of the parliamentary machine in motion.

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