Row over baroness expenses probe

Labour peer Baroness Uddin will not face prosecution over her claims for parliamentary allowances
12 April 2012

A row has erupted between prosecutors and the House of Lords authorities following a decision not to bring charges against the Labour peer Baroness Uddin over her expenses.

The Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said the wording of the guidelines issued by the House authorities had presented prosecutors with a "very real difficulty" in bringing a case.

However the Clerk of the Parliaments Michael Pownall - the most senior official in the upper House - insisted the guidance was intended for purely internal use and did not relate to any possible breach of the criminal law.

He said the Lords would now be re-opening their own inquiry into Lady Uddin's expenses. The investigation was originally suspended last year while Scotland Yard carried out its investigation.

The peer faces allegations she claimed tens of thousands of pounds in overnight allowances for staying in London on Lords business, after designating a flat in Maidstone, Kent, as her main home, even though she rarely visited it.

Announcing the decision not to bring charges, Mr Starmer said there was no definition in either legislation or the House of Lords expenses scheme itself of a peer's "only or main residence".

He said in a statement issued last November, Mr Pownall had said it was up to peers to designate their main home "as they see fit", while in further guidance in February he suggested that visiting a property once a month while the House was sitting was sufficient to qualify.

However Mr Pownall said the February guidance was issued for the purposes of his own internal investigation and "did not relate to potential breaches of the criminal law". He added that as the guidance was issued in relation to residency in a property, any visit would have to include an overnight stay in order to qualify.

"Only visiting the residence once a month would not be sufficient for the designation (as a main home) to be appropriate and a visit must include an overnight stay," he said.

Earlier Lady Uddin expressed her relief that the threat of prosecution had now been lifted in a statement to reporters outside the house in Shadwell, east London where, it has been alleged, she actually stays for much of her time. "I am relieved this ordeal has finally come to an end and I only wish now to say thank you to everyone who supported me through a very difficult time and I now wish to return back to my professional life," she said.

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