Labour dumps expense row MP Devine

LABOUR MP Jim Devine last night became the latest casualty of the expenses scandal when he was banned from representing the party at the next election.

LABOUR MP Jim Devine last night became the latest casualty of the expenses scandal when he was banned from representing the party at the next election.

The Livingston MP was referred to Labour's "star chamber" after he was accused of submitting a bogus claim for electrical work at his flat.

He is alleged to have submitted receipts for £2,157 of work from a firm that does not exist.

Questions were also raised about 66 metres of office shelving, said to have been provided by the landlord of his local pub, for which he charged the taxpayer £2,326.

Mr Devine is now the fifth Labour MP, and the only one to represent a Scottish seat, to be deselected. It follows the party's rulings on Margaret Moran, Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Dr Ian Gibson.

The Scotsman understands he has yet to decide whether to stand down immediately – prompting a by-election – or to wait until a general election.

Mr Devine, 59, had his endorsement as a Labour candidate rescinded by the party after a unanimous decision by the "star chamber" panel that questioned him on Monday.

A Labour Party spokesman said: "After considering in detail the case of Jim Devine and speaking to him, the Labour Party's special NEC endorsements panel today unanimously recommended rescinding his endorsement as a Labour candidate. He will not be able to stand as a Labour candidate in any constituency at the next general election.

"The organisation committee of the Labour Party's NEC agreed with the panel's recommendations and a new prospective parliamentary candidate will be selected as soon as possible.

"As both Gordon Brown and the National Executive Committee have made clear, the Labour Party demands the very highest standard of its MPs."

Last night Mr Devine said he was "devastated" by the decision and felt that he had been "hung out to dry" by the party.

Only last week he received the backing of his constituency Labour Party over the affair after being questioned by about 40 members of the group in an hour-long meeting.

Previously the MP had maintained that the electrician he hired had provided false information.

Mr Devine said the man must have been trying to avoid paying tax by providing a false VAT number, and he had notified the Commons fees office when he found out about it.

He also said he recently referred himself to police in a bid to clear his name.

There is no process of appeal for the ruling, which effectively ends his Westminster career by next spring, or earlier if a snap election is called.

It is expected that the Scottish National Party will now target the seat even more heavily. The party already controls the local council and the Holyrood seat, where Angela Constance is MSP.

Last night, Lis Bardell, the party's Westminster candidate for Livingston, said: "By deselecting Jim Devine, the Labour Party has had its say, but that is not enough: the people of Livingston should now have their say too."

Mr Devine, a former union activist and psychiatric nurse, won the Livingston seat in a by- election after Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary, died on a hill walk in September 2005.

In 2007 he accepted an award from the Herald newspaper for the top campaign of the year for attempts to win compensation for savers who lost out when the Farepak scheme collapsed.

The news of Mr Devine's deselection came after it emerged that communities minister Shahid Malik faces a second investigation into his expenses, less than a week after being brought back into government.

The Dewsbury MP is to be scrutinised over his allowances by the parliamentary standards commissioner, John Lyon.

Last night, a spokesman for Mr Malik said: "There is nothing extraordinary about the parliamentary commissioner carrying out a preliminary inquiry in this way and Mr Malik is very relaxed about the process."

However, the investigation will embarrass Mr Brown, who brought Mr Malik back as a minister after he was briefly investigated over other expenses allegations last month.

Mr Malik, who was then justice minister, was exonerated of benefiting from below-market rents from his constituency home and office.

But yesterday it emerged he faced further queries over reports that he used Commons expenses to pay for an office in his constituency home.

Meanwhile, a Conservative MP, Ian Taylor, has revealed that he will stand down at the next election. The MP for Esher and Walton claimed for a London home although his own house is within the commuter belt.

Standards committee chairman accuses MPs of lacking principles

MPS could be stopped from hiring their wives, husbands or offspring to stop the public perception that they were lining their families' pockets, Commons leader Harriet Harman has signalled.

The Cabinet minister told an inquiry into Westminster's expenses that any suspicions MPs were milking allowances would no longer be tolerated.

"I think it is almost impossible to convince the public that actually there is fair employment opportunity. My own view is that it is just too difficult to sustain public confidence," Ms Harman said.

Opening the first evidence session of the committee on standards in public life yesterday, chairman Sir Christopher Kelly hit out at MPs for lacking principles and exploiting expenses "for personal gain". He insisted politicians needed to display qualities including selflessness, integrity and honesty.

"These values are timeless," he said. "If they had been followed more by more MPs over the past few years we would not be in the situation that we are."

Sir Christopher also suggested the most popular solution to MPs' accommodation problem was to establish a "barracks" in London – potentially at the Olympic village being built for the 2012 Games.

Ms Harman said that was "obviously something for the committee to consider", but added it could prevent MPs having a normal life.

Many parliamentarians choose to "commute" their partner and children between homes, living in London during the week and in the constituency at weekends.

"It does have to be recognised we do not want a parliament that is exclusively made up of people who are prepared to set their family life entirely on one side," she said.