Expenses MPs to face criminal trial

THREE former Labour MPs will have to face criminal trials over their expenses claims, London’s Supreme Court ruled yesterday.

David Chaytor, Elliot Morley and Jim Devine, who deny charges they abused their parliamentary expenses, had argued they were protected by ancient laws of parliamentary privilege.

Their case is the first criminal prosecution stemming from a wider scandal that erupted last year over parliamentary expenses, provoking public anger at a time of economic retrenchment.