http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/lates...nses.3809945.jp

 

 

 

Speaker on brink over expenses

 

 

 

Under pressure: Michael Martin is facing calls to quit after revelations about expenses claims by his wife

 

 

By Eddie Barnes Political Editor

THE Speaker of the House of Commons was under mounting pressure to quit last night as damaging new details emerged about his wife's use of taxis and further questions were raised about his expenses claims.

Officials admitted that Michael Martin's wife, Mary, had taken taxi rides in London with her housekeeper, contradicting previous claims that she had been accompanied by an official. Martin's spokesman quit last night over the taxi row, blaming officials who had "led (him] to mislead" journalists.

 

Scotland on Sunday can also reveal Martin last year charged £17,000 in expenses against the cost of running his home in Glasgow, even though Land Registry documents suggest he does not have a mortgage on it.

 

Martin's expenses claim on his house is within parliamentary rules and MPs can claim up to £22,100 to help with the cost of running a second home. But critics last night questioned why he would need to charge the taxpayer so much for a house if, as the documents suggest, it has no mortgage. The revelations came amid claims several senior MPs are being canvassed to replace Martin.

 

Asked for clarification about his expenses claims last night, a spokeswoman for Martin would say only: "The Speaker obeys the rules and the spirit of the rules."

 

In recent weeks it has emerged that Martin had used air miles from official flights to help meet the costs of journeys for his family over Christmas.

 

He also faced questions over large taxi bills run up by his wife. This had been explained by claiming that she was accompanied by an official on parliamentary business. But the pressure was piled on yesterday afternoon when Martin's spokesman, Mike Granatt, revealed he had quit, admitting he had unwittingly handed out incorrect information over Martin's wife's taxi claims.

 

It has emerged that the passenger was the Martins' housekeeper. This raises the possibility that Martin might have to repay the amount, £4,280.

 

In a statement, Granatt declared: "I found it no longer possible to work as media adviser to the House of Commons Commission and I have informed the Speaker that I am stepping down immediately.

 

"It is core to the ethical code by which I and my company operate that I tell the truth and I am given the truth to tell. I learned on Friday that I had been led to mislead journalists over material facts of a story concerning the Speaker's household's use of taxis. I have expressed my regret. I wish to make it clear that this is no fault of the Speaker."

 

Granatt added: "I had been told she had been accompanied by an official. And, in fact, the person concerned was the

 

housekeeper." Granatt said that the "implication" of the taxi journeys was therefore very different from what had previously been suggested and he had to quit.

 

The new revelations come with Martin facing intense pressure to stand down from the job he has held since 2000, when he took over from Labour MP Betty Boothroyd.

 

It was reported yesterday that four senior MPs are being canvassed to see whether they would be interested in becoming Speaker. MPs are powerless to get rid of a Speaker, but many critical MPs hope the pressure of the current row will see Martin resign. Friends, however, say that he is determined to stay on until after the next General Election, claiming he is the victim of snobbery and discrimination.

 

The post of Speaker is one of the most prestigious in British politics and comes with a £138,000 salary and a grace-and-favour house in the Palace of Westminster.

 

On Martin's expenses for 2006-07, he is listed as spending £17,346 on the Additional Costs Allowance (ACA), which MPs use to pay for the costs of running a second home or, if they do not have a home, staying in hotels.

 

It can be used for mortgages, rent, utility bills and maintenance. A spokesman for Martin said he used it for his Glasgow home.

 

Martin also claims £7,595 as Incidental Expenses Provision (IEP), which can be used to meet the cost of running an office. As Martin's house is his office, this too pays for his home.

 

Martin bought his luxury detached home in Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, in 1998 for £173,000. Local property records suggest it has now easily doubled in value. Land Registry documents suggest he did not take out a mortgage on the property.

 

Although Martin has not broken the rules, critics are now demanding to know why, if there is no mortgage, he requires such large sums of expenses to help pay for it.

 

Earlier this month, the multi-millionaire Conservative MP Michael Ancram was criticised after he used the ACA to clear moss from his mortgage-free home.

 

Former independent MP Martin Bell said last night: "Of course this is in the rules – the House of Commons sets the rules. I think he should go now. We are in a grave parliamentary crisis. Now is the time for him to step aside."

 

The Speaker's office last night refused to say whether or not he did have a mortgage at the property. An official said: "All this information is in the public domain and is published every October. The Speaker obeys the rules and the spirit of the rules."

 

A spokesman for the Taxpayer's Alliance said: "Michael Martin is supposed to oversee the rules on MPs' allowances, but his behaviour leaves a lot to be desired. People have precious little faith in politicians as it is."

 

 

:blink:

Oh look, another story. The Deputy Presiding Officer in the Scottish Parliament now!

 

http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnew...2068685.0.0.php

 

 

The £3.5m fraud, the £250,000 flat... and the deputy presiding officer

By Paul Hutcheon

 

 

Natwest 3 fraudster fiddled cash, bought Edinburgh property and sold it to his politician mother when the heat was on

 

A SENIOR Labour MSP helped her crooked son cash in on a lucrative Holyrood flat he bought months after defrauding his employers of £3.7million.

 

Deputy presiding officer Trish Godman purchased her son Gary Mulgrew's Edinburgh apartment for £250,000 in late 2006, after he had been extradited to Texas.

 

But Mulgrew, who was last week jailed for his part in an international fraud, had initially bought the property in full, without the need for a mortgage, shortly after embezzling millions of pounds in the Enron-linked scandal.

 

The revelation comes after Mulgrew and two other bankers, dubbed the NatWest Three, were each sentenced in a Houston courtroom on Friday to 37 months.

 

The trio of bankers had defrauded their former employers, NatWest, by persuading the firm to sell an Enron-related venture at a knock-down price of $1m.

 

They then left Natwest, bought a stake in the enterprise that had been sold, and offloaded it for $20million.

 

Mulgrew, 46, and his fellow fraudsters received around £3.7million between them, in mid 2000, cash they used to invest in businesses and property.

 

The Sunday Herald can reveal that one of Mulgrew's post-fraud investments was a flat at Holyrood Road in Edinburgh, yards from the Scottish Parliament.

 

Documents from Registers of Scotland show the Scot bought the property in mid 2001, months after receiving the proceeds from the dodgy deal. He paid £245,000 in full for the apartment, without requiring a mortgage.

 

The only standard security Mulgrew took out on the flat was two years later, in September 2003, which was after he had been charged by US prosecutors.

 

In November 2006, at a time when Mulgrew had been extradited to Texas on fraud charges, Trish Godman and her husband, former Labour MP Norman Godman, bought the property for £250,000.

 

Days later, in documents submitted at Houston's federal court, US prosecutors accused Mulgrew of trying to hide his wealth by transferring cash to his siblings, such as giving his brother $60,000 to buy a house in Australia.

 

The Godmans' purchase of their son's property came at a critical point for Mulgrew, as months before the sale he had to pay bail of $200,000 and was facing huge legal costs.

 

Earlier reports indicated that Mulgrew sold his £250,000 of shares in Celtic Football Club to get bail. He and his fellow fraudsters later pleaded guilty in 2007 to one count of wire fraud, a plea bargain the judge accepted on Friday.

 

Godman's role in helping her son financially is controversial due to the senior role she occupies at Holyrood.

 

As well as being the Labour MSP for West Renfrewshire, Godman is one of the Parliament's deputy presiding officers. She chairs debates and acts as an ambassador for Holyrood.

 

It has been claimed in earlier newspaper reports that Mulgrew had agreements to rent out his Holyrood apartment to his mother for £1000 but the Sunday Herald has no evidence to back up that claim.

 

Between 1999 and 2005, Godman was revealed to have been the biggest MSP claimant of hotel costs, claiming £23,000 despite living in Glasgow. She has not made any claims for hotels since purchasing the flat.

 

There is no suggestion that Godman did anything illegal but the affair is embarrassing for Scottish Labour as the party has made seizing the assets of criminals a top law and order priority.

 

In 2002, the Labour-led Scottish Executive passed the Proceeds of Crime Act, which drew up new powers of confiscation, civil recovery and taxation.

 

Godman did not return calls yesterday.

 

SNP MSP Alex Neil said: "Labour has got to clean up its act - it's one story after another. This is not just damaging Labour, but politics in general."

 

:blink:

 

 

They are all on the gravy train paid for by you and me. I think the public's faith in politicians is at an all time low.

Snouts in the trough.... :rolleyes: