UK scandal could show 315 lawmakers the door

Sun, 24 May 2009 16:48:27 GMT

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=95859&sectionid=351020601

A new Sunday Telegraph article reveals how Britain's lawmakers maneuvered around laws to claim more expenses, as parliament drowns in scandal.

The newspaper said some 200 members of parliament had claimed money for an addition residence, usually by employing spouses or family members to work there “on parliamentary business.”

Malcolm Bruce, the president of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, claimed £3,100 toward his home in Scotland in addition to the £61,186 he claimed for his London property between April 2006 and March 2008.

Bruce argued that his actions were not "improper," since he had limited himself to claiming only “the actual costs…incurred for providing an office for my wife to work from.”

The former London lawmaker, Derek Conway, expelled last year from the Conservative Party over payments to his two sons, was similarly able to claim for office expenses at a family home in Morpeth, Northumberland, as well as mortgage interest on his second London house.

The Morpeth house is 330 miles from his south-east London constituency.

The scandal has blotted the reputation of the country's three main political parties with a survey suggesting nearly half of Britain's lawmakers may be gone after the next election.

The paper said an analysis by election experts Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher estimates that 170 of Labour's current 350 lawmakers will decide not to stand again at the next election, as will 55 of the Conservatives' 193 members. Around 90 will leave following of no-confidence votes.

The Conservative's Andrew MacKay announced Saturday that he would quit his Bracknell constituency in the next elections in the face of mounting public row over similar claims.

Labour chairman Ian McCartney earlier said he would not be standing again due to "health problems," that coincided with exposure of the details of his claims -- thousands of pounds spent furnish his second home.