London: Denis MacShane, Britain’s former Europe minister, has been expelled from the Labour party after a cross-party committee of MPs recommended that he should be suspended from the House of Commons for 12 months after submitting false invoices.
A byelection is expected to be held in MacShane’s Rotherham constituency after he declared that his parliamentary career was over in the wake of damning findings by the House of Commons standards and privileges committee.
Kevin Barron, the Labour chair of the cross-party committee, described the findings against MacShane as the “gravest case which has come to the committee for adjudication”.
The committee recommended that MacShane should be suspended from the Commons for 12 months, with loss of pay and pension rights for the period, after ruling that he had submitted “false invoices” to pay for official trips to other EU countries. He also allowed interns to keep laptops, paid for by parliament, when their internships came to an end.
A Labour spokesman signalled that MacShane would be expected to resign his seat altogether, triggering a byelection. The spokesman said: “These are very serious findings concerning Denis MacShane and we accept his statement this morning that his career as a Labour MP is effectively over. In the light of the report’s recommendations to the house, the Labour party has suspended Denis MacShane with immediate effect, pending a full NEC [National Executive Committee] inquiry. We will be talking to Denis MacShane about his future and the best course of action for him and for his constituency.” MacShane expressed regret for his conduct but criticised Michael Barnbrook, the former British National party (BNP) member who launched the complaint against him. Guardian News
