TOP 100 ENGLAND SITES
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| City stops taking asylum seekers Birmingham City Council says it will stop accepting asylum seekers when its current contract with the UK Border Agency ends. bbc.co.uk |
Denis MacShane referred to Metropolitan police over expenses allegations Inquiry by parliamentary commissioner for standards into the complaint against ex-Europe minister suspended 'until question of possible criminal proceedings has been resolved'Denis MacShane, the former Europe minister, has been referred to the Metropolitan police over allegations about his expenses and suspended from the parliamentary Labour party.An inquiry by John Lyon, parliamentary commissioner for standards, into the complaint against the Rotherham MP has been suspended "until the question of possible criminal proceedings has been resolved".Separately, Conservative MP Bill Wiggin has been told to repay £4,000 in overclaimed expenses and to apologise to the house. David Cameron had promised to "show him the door" if found guilty but a spokesman for the prime minister said that the inquiry had cleared Wiggin of any intent so he would not be expelled.The complaint against MacShane is understood to have been submitted by the British National party and relates to travel expenses for work conducted in Europe in the last parliament. The Commons committee on standards and privileges, which oversees Lyon's work, said it had agreed that MacShane's conduct should be reported to the Met.MacShane said: "I have been informed by the parliamentary commissioner for standards that he has written to the Metropolitan police in connection with his inquiry into a complaint against me filed in June 2009. I will of course co-operate fully with the police, as I have with the commissioner." Scotland Yard confirmed that it had received the complaint.A Labour party spokeswoman said MacShane had been suspended from the parliamentary party and had had the whip withdrawn pending the outcome of any investigation.The standards committee said that Wiggin, the MP for North Herefordshire, had probably claimed for expenses that were not incurred when he failed to provide adequate evidence of items for which he had claimed £240 a month. It also says that he overclaimed for council tax and designated the wrong property as his main home. The parliamentary commissioner for standards said the designation was "an unfortunate and unintended muddle".Cameron told GMTV in June last year that reports of discrepancies in Wiggin's expenses were not right. He said: "He has given us every assurance that every penny he claimed should have been claimed and it does look like … it's an honest mistake and he was not claiming money he wasn't entitled to. Now if he was, that would be different and he would be out of the door." A spokesperson for Number 10 said that it had been an honest mistake.The BBC reported that six former MPs had still not repaid expenses after Sir Thomas Legg's review of claims. Legg ordered hundreds of politicians to hand back a total of £1.3m following a review of claims from 2004-08. But £50,000 is outstanding from six Labour MPs: Helen Clark, John Lyons, Irene Adams, Ivor Caplin, Diana Organ and Lorna Fitzsimons.MPs' expensesHouse of CommonsLabourConservativesPolly Curtisguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Cancer protester's assembly bid A woman who staged a sit-in at the Welsh assembly to campaign for the introduction of a breast cancer drug is standing to be an assembly member. bbc.co.uk |
Criminals charged with hundreds of serious offences while monitored Offenders were charged with almost 200 serious offences last year while being monitored by the authorities. telegraph.co.uk |
Northumberland: 'The worst I've ever seen it' Drivers in Scotland have faced long delays and road closures as snow continues to fall across the country. bbc.co.uk |