The Labour party were today reeling after being hit by a series of new expenses revelations involving its MPs.
It has emerged that Labour MP Denis MacShane has now become the latest Labour MP to be reported to police over questionable expense claims and party colleague and former MP Margaret Moran is also facing charges.
Newspaper reports reveal that Mr MacShane claimed for EIGHT laptop computers in three years and is facing an investigation over his expenses which included £125,000 over a seven year period for using his garage as an office.
Mr MacShane, a former Labour Minister, submitted invoices from an organisation called the “European Policy Institute” (EPI); it has emerged that the EPI is controlled by Mr MacShane’s brother.
The news comes only a day after it emerged that ex Labour MP Margaret Moran is also likely to be charged over her own expense claims. The former MP for Luton South has been under investigation for several months and is expected to be charged within weeks.
It is understood that detectives suspect Miss Moran may have made claims for work which was not conducted at the property designated as her second home and that some invoices may have been tampered with. One receipt, for more than £14,000 for a replacement boiler at her Luton property, is from a company which is not registered and the VAT number provided on the invoice is not valid. Police have contacted the person who lives at the address stipulated on the invoice but they have denied carrying out any work at the address.
Miss Moran’s claims are eerily similar to those of former Scottish Labour MP for Livingston Jim Devine who hit the headlines after submitting claims for electrical work from a firm that could not be traced. Mr Devine also claimed for office shelving that was apparently fitted into the basement of a local pub.
Miss Moran has made some of the most controversial expense claims and repeatedly “flipped” her designated second home. The ex Labour MPs property portfolio is now said to be worth a significant six-figure sum.
Moran signed off sick from Parliament last year citing “stress” because of the situation and was subsequently deselected by her local Labour party. It is thought that she was paid a “golden goodbye” worth over £55,000 when she left the House of Commons in April.
Miss Moran also hit the headlines in March of this year, after she was secretly filmed along with other Labour MPs, telling an undercover reporter she was available for lobbying work.
The former MP is now set to join four other Labour politicians, including Jim Devine, who are facing court over their own expenses claims.
