MP faces theft charges over expenses claim

Former Hull councillor Elliott Morley is one of three Labour MPs who have been charged with offences of false accounting arising from their expenses, the director of Public Prosecutions has announced.

Mr Morley, now MP for Scunthorpe, faces two counts under the Theft Act 1968 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.

Mr Morley began his political career in Hull in the late 1970s while teaching in a city secondary school. Mr Morley was elected to the city council in 1979.

He taught at Greatfield School, in east Hull, and 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.

Files on six parliamentarians accused of the worst excesses in the second homes expenses scandal were passed by police to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in November and December.

The announcements by the CPS follow Thursday's damning verdict on MPs' expenses by Sir Thomas Legg, who conducted an audit of all claims made in recent years and condemned the system as "deeply flawed".

Hundreds of MPs were ordered to repay a total of £1.12 million.