13 March 2010 / REUTERS, LONDON
There is not enough evidence to charge a fifth politician in connection with an alleged abuse of parliamentary expenses, the Crown Prosecution Service said on Friday.
Labour peer Manzila Pola Uddin was investigated after claims she had lived in east London but designated a rarely used flat in Kent as her main home in order to claim almost 100,000 pounds in allowances for peers who live outside of the capital. The case is part of a wider scandal over politicians’ expenses that erupted last year and has tainted both Labour and the Conservatives in the run-up to an election expected in May. “There is insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against Baroness Uddin and we have today advised the Metropolitan Police to take no further action,” said Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer in a statement. Starmer said that while the definition of what constitutes a peer’s main home is not defined under the expenses scheme or any legislation, a House committee had judged the threshold was visiting the property at least once a month.
