Pressure on guilty British MP to give up seat

Eric Illsley is under pressure to resign after becoming the first sitting MP in Britain to be convicted of expenses fraud.

The disgraced MP appeared before Southwark Crown Court yesterday and admitted dishonestly claiming more than £14,000 ($28,800) in parliamentary expenses.

During the hearing, Illsley, who has already been suspended by the Labour Party, spoke only to confirm his pleas, saying "guilty" to three charges of false accounting relating to three years of expenses on his second home in London.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband demanded that the member for Barnsley Central go voluntarily after it emerged he could keep his job and salary even if a jail term is imposed. The Representation of the People Act 1981 disqualifies MPs if they receive a custodial sentence of 12 months or more. Their seat is automatically vacated and a byelection is held. There is no set mechanism for expelling members who are handed shorter jail terms.

"Eric Illsley has been found guilty of a very serious charge. He is no longer a Labour MP and I think he should now do the right thing and resign as an MP," said Miliband.

Illsley, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, was suspended from the Labour Party after the allegations and now sits as an independent after being re-elected in the May general election.

He had previously denied dishonestly claiming a total of more than £25,000 for council tax, telephone use, service charges and maintenance, and insurance and repairs at his second home in Kennington, south London, arguing that lax Commons allowances were there to "supplement" the income of politicians.

But yesterday his barrister, William Coker, QC, said his client admitted wrongly obtaining about £14,500, a revised sum which was accepted by the prosecution. The hearing was adjourned for four weeks for a pre-sentence report.

The former Labour MP David Chaytor was sentenced to 18 months in prison last week after admitting he forged tenancy documents and invoices to falsely claim more than £22,000 of taxpayers' money for rent and IT work.

Yesterday, Commons authorities indicated that the whole House would need to pass a resolution to remove Illsley from his seat. Conservative MP Peter Baker is believed to be the last MP expelled after he was convicted of fraud in 1954.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said Cameron's personal view was that it would be "untenable" for Illsley to continue in Parliament.

TWO DOWN, FOUR IN LINE OF FIRE

Elliot Morley, the former Labour minister, will face a jury soon accused of falsely claiming £30,428 on a mortgage he had already paid off.

Jim Devine, the former Labour MP for Livingston, is accused of submitting two misleading invoices for printing services totalling more than £5000. He faces another charge of submitting false invoices for cleaning and maintenance work.

Lord Hanningfield was suspended from the Conservative Party after being charged with dishonestly submitting claims "for expenses to which he knew he was not entitled". They included overnight stays in London.

Lord Taylor of Warwick, 58, another former Tory peer, is set to stand trial on six charges relating to claims worth around £1000 for a "false" second home. All four men deny the charges.

- INDEPENDENT