Last Minute Conversions
After leading the public and the courts a merry dance for almost two years - another former Labour MP - Elliott Morley - has finally owned up to fiddling his expenses.
His guilty plea comes after fighting tooth and nail - to prevent his behaviour coming before the criminal courts.
To add insult to injury he was provided with legal aid to defend himself against the charges - which have now been shown to be true all along.
What a waste of time and public money.
Morley - a former Labour environment minister -now admits that he fraudulently claimed more than £30,000 in expenses - based on a mortgage that had been paid off - yet he kept claiming anyway.
The MPs' expenses system was so lax that he was not required to provide any proof - at any stage - that he was actually incurring real costs.
Morley will now go to jail for his dishonesty - following in the footsteps of his former Labour colleagues - David Chaytor, Jim Devine and Erid Illsley.
In a statement at Westminster magistrates court in 2010 - Morley, Chaytor and Devine said they: "unequivocally and steadfastly maintain their innocence of the charges against them".
So he deserves everything he's got coming - and deserves no credit whatsoever - for changing his plea to guilty at the very last minute.
His guilty plea comes after fighting tooth and nail - to prevent his behaviour coming before the criminal courts.
To add insult to injury he was provided with legal aid to defend himself against the charges - which have now been shown to be true all along.
What a waste of time and public money.
Morley - a former Labour environment minister -now admits that he fraudulently claimed more than £30,000 in expenses - based on a mortgage that had been paid off - yet he kept claiming anyway.
The MPs' expenses system was so lax that he was not required to provide any proof - at any stage - that he was actually incurring real costs.
Morley will now go to jail for his dishonesty - following in the footsteps of his former Labour colleagues - David Chaytor, Jim Devine and Erid Illsley.
In a statement at Westminster magistrates court in 2010 - Morley, Chaytor and Devine said they: "unequivocally and steadfastly maintain their innocence of the charges against them".
So he deserves everything he's got coming - and deserves no credit whatsoever - for changing his plea to guilty at the very last minute.
