Jim Divine MP is devastated...Bless Him

[Bobbisox]

The Bloke is almost crying because he is facing prosecution over his expenses,
too late, he's done the crime, now he should do the time, very unlikely but !

[fredpuli47]

We do wish him well with the defence of parliamentary privilege which the DPP says the accused have raised, don't we ?
Good luck with that. It's to give MPs complete freedom of speech in, and to protect them from being arrested or served papers within, the House, so they are not impeded or harassed in performing their duties. It doesn't appear to be designed to protect them from prosecution for stealing from their employers in breach of trust !

[jake-the-peg]

Of course if he was disabled you'd be all for helping him defraud the country as I recall for a recent thread

[Bobbisox]

sorry jake, don't do cryptic !

[rov1200]

As I see it just another whitewash. The 4 people who have been charged by the CPS are all for relatively meagre amounts. Its the home flippers who need to be bought to book as their figures are astronomical.

[jno]

nobody wants to hear how the case turns out, then?

[Gromit]

They may yet avoid prosecution.

// The three Labour MPs announced today that they would fight the charges by seeking to claim parliamentary privilege over their expenses activities. //

[fredpuli47]

Fear not Gromit. The defence of privilege will not work for three good legal reasons
1) the principle does not apply to crimes but to their being arrested in the Palace of Westminster for those crimes
2) There is no authority in precedent for it
and , the best legal point of all,
3) The public are baying for blood, their anger being increased by MPs and Lords thinking there's one law for them and a different one for the rest of us.No judge is going to say, would dare say, that there's a law which states that there's one law for them and one for the rest of us i.e. provides them with a defence to charges of theft and false accounting but not us.