Elliott Morley will defend theft charges 'robustly'
Elliot Morley is one of three labour MPs and a Tory Peer who have been charged under the Theft Act 1968.
The offences of false accounting relate to parliamentary expense claims they filed, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has announced.
Mr Morley, who has been the MP for Scunthorpe since 1987, is charged with two counts of dishonestly claiming expenses.
The first count alleges that between April 2004 and February 2006, Mr Morley dishonestly claimed mortgage expenses of £14,428 for a house in Winterton, Lincolnshire.
The second count alleges that between March 2006 and November 2007, Mr Morley dishonestly claimed mortgage expenses of £16,000 for the same property when there was no longer a mortgage on that property.
Two other Labour MPs, Bury North MP David Chaytor and Livingston's Jim Devine, and Conservative peer Lord Hanningfield, who is leader of Essex County Council, will also face charges.
Mr Morley has released a joint statement with Mr Chaytor and Mr Devine.
It states: "We are clearly extremely disappointed the DPP has decided to instigate proceedings against us.
"We totally refute any charges that we have committed an offence and we will defend our position robustly."
They are due to appear before City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on March 11.
If found guilty, the maximum sentence is seven years in jail.
Mr Morley began his political career in Hull in the late 1970s.
He was elected to the city council in 1979 and taught at Greatfield School, in east Hull.
He quickly rose through the local ranks of the National Union of Teachers to become Hull branch president.
But it was after his election as a Labour councillor in the city's Avenues ward that his public profile took off.
Despite his background in education, he became best known for his role as chairman of the influential transport committee during a seven-year stint at the Guildhall.
Under his chairmanship, the committee effectively managed the council-run City Transport bus company.
After the expenses scandal broke last year, Mr Morley announced he would stand down from Parliament at the forthcoming election. He referred himself to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, though this investigation has been put on hold pending the result of police inquiries.
Mr Morley also stepped down as chairman of the House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee and was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Files on six parliamentarians accused of the worst excesses in the second homes expenses scandal were passed by police to the Crown Prosecution Service in November and December.
Yesterday's news of the prosecutions follow Thursday's damning verdict on MPs' expenses by Sir Thomas Legg, who conducted an audit of all claims made in recent years.
Sir Thomas condemned the system as "deeply flawed".
Hundreds of MPs were ordered to repay a total of £1.12m.
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Elliot Morley
Crown Prosecution Service
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Scunthorpe MP Elliot Morley.
