MPs' spouses prepare legal battle to save their jobs

Published on Thursday 5 November 2009 23:27

HUSBANDS and wives who work for their MP spouses are preparing a High Court challenge to new rules which will force them to be sacked from their parliamentary jobs.

About 20 of those affected met a lawyer from the union Unite on Wednesday to discuss launching a legal battle to save them from being fired.

As part of an overhaul of the expenses system, MPs will be banned from hiring spouses or relatives as their researchers.

Nearly 200 MPs employ their spouses. Sir Christopher Kelly, who chaired the review of MPs' expenses, said in no other industry were people automatically allowed to hire their relatives or partners from the public purse without advertising the posts.

But lawyers are now threatening to challenge the new rules under sex discrimination laws.

Dan Whittle, chairman of the Unite parliamentary branch, said: "The advice was given that there could be the potential for a judicial review of any decision by IPSA to put into practice Sir Chris Kelly's proposal on the basis of Section 3 of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975."

MPs have even discussed holding a "wife swap" so their spouses could work for other MPs to get around the new rules.

Meanwhile, shadow prisons minister Alan Duncan was cleared of wrongly claiming tens of thousands of pounds in mortgage interest payments on his second home. The Commons standards and privileges committee said there had been no breach of Commons rules.