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Chaytor will be charged over expenses
DAVID Chaytor, Calderdale Council's former education chairman, is one of three Labour MPs and one Tory peer who will face criminal charges over their expenses.
Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said Mr Chaytor, Elliot Morley, Jim Devine and Lord Hanningfield will be charged under the Theft Act.
All four have said they will deny the charges.
Mr Chaytor, who lives in Todmorden, is Labour MP for Bury North. He is accused of dishonestly claiming 1,950 for IT services and further sums of 12,925 and 5,425 relating to rent claims on properties he and his mother allegedly owned.
In a joint statement, the three MPs said: "We totally refute any charges that we have committed an offence and we will defend our position robustly."
Mr Chaytor was suspended from the parliamentary Labour party last May and will not be defending his seat at the General Election. Mr Chaytor, a Calderdale councillor from 1982 to 1987, yesterday called for councils to be given stronger powers to hold local service providers to account.
Introducing his Local Authorities Bill in the Commons, Mr Chaytor said greater scrutiny would help "drive up standards." He said "lines of accountability" had become confused.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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