Worst of the worst: expenses MP faces jail

The ex-Labour MP dishonestly claimed mortgage payments worth more than 30,000. Morley is the first ex-minister to face jail over the expenses scandal that rocked Westminster.

He pocketed a total of 30,428 on a phantom mortgage and by inflating the amount he was previously paying.

Just days before he was due to go on trial, Morley entered two guilty pleas for false accounting over claims made against his home in Winterton, Lincolnshire, between 2004 and 2007.

Morley, 58, wrongly filled out 40 forms relating to payments for his home. He claimed thousands of pounds more than any of the other MPs convicted over the scandal.

The prosecution overshadows a long political career. An MP for Scunthorpe since 1987, he was one of Labour's most prominent voices on agricultural issues and the environment.

Campaigners criticised him for not admitting his crimes earlier. Emma Boon, campaign director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It's a shame that Morley took so long to make an admission of guilt.

"Taxpayers had to suffer the insult not only of him stealing from them, but then lying about it for so long and dragging out an expensive prosecution."

She added: "This change of plea is one more small step towards parliament regaining public trust."

Jim Devine, the first MP to stand trial in the wake of the expenses scandal, was branded a liar by a judge last month as he was jailed for 16 months. The former Livingston MP had denied offences totalling 8,385.

Two other former Labour members, David Chaytor and Eric Illsley, have already been jailed for falsely claiming 22,000 and 14,500.

Former Tory peer Lord Taylor of Warwick awaits sentencing after being convicted by a jury in January of falsely claiming more than 11,000 for travel and overnight subsistence.

Morley entered his pleas yesterday as it emerged that MPs were paid 3.2 million in expenses for the final two months of last year.

James Sturman QC, for the defence, told Mr Justice Saunders that his client accepted a jail sentence is likely. After Morley delivered his pleas, Mr Sturman urged the judge to consider his "lifetime of public service".

But, referring to a jail term, he added: "We know it is not a question of if but how long."

Outside court, Morley said "any comments I might make" will be at the next hearing.

Morley, wearing a dark blue suit and striped tie, spoke in court only to confirm his name and enter two guilty pleas.

The brief hearing was adjourned for pre-sentence reports to be submitted by 12 May.

Simon Clements, reviewing lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Elliot Morley has today admitted his dishonesty.In doing so, he has accepted that his repeated and fraudulent claims for one mortgage that had been paid off and his excessive claims for another were not legitimate in any way.

"The parliamentary expenses system exists to assist the public's representatives in carrying out their duties, but Mr Morley used it to line his own pockets with just over 30,000 - more than an average household's annual income. Such behaviour is blatantly dishonest."