12.05.11
Laws suspended over expense claims
The House of Commons Standards and Privileges Committee has reported that Liberal Democrat MP David Laws has been suspended for seven days for breaking several expenses rules.
Last year it emerged that Laws had claimed expenses to pay rent to his partner, against House of Commons rules, which led to his resignation as chief secretary to the treasury. He has since apologised and paid back the money.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards accepted that Laws had not intended to profit from the expenses system, but nevertheless found him guilty of breaking a number of rules.
Laws indicated that he would like to return to government, asserting that the action was only taken to protect his privacy.
The Liberal Democrats also gave a statement: "Mr Laws has always maintained that his decisions were driven by his desire for privacy, rather than to benefit in any way from the expenses system.”
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