THREE members of the House of Lords faced the heaviest sanctions yet in Britain’s expenses scandal after a committee recommended yesterday they pay back tens of thousands of pounds and be given long suspensions.
The House of Lords Privileges and Conduct Committee said Labour peer Baroness Uddin, Labour peer Lord Paul and independent Lord Bhatia should repay nearly £200,000 ($316,569) among them.
The long-running probe into second-home costs, which rocked parliament last year, said Baroness Uddin should be suspended until Easter 2012 and repay £125,349 ($198,416).
The committee also said Lord Paul should be suspended for four months and cross bencher Lord Bhatia for eight months.
Last year, Lord Truscott and Lord Taylor of Blackburn, both Labour, were the first peers to be suspended from the upper house since the 17th century but the new sanctions, including lengthy suspensions, are the heaviest ever meted out to peers accused of wrongdoing.
The House of Lords will decide on Thursday (October 21) whether to go ahead and suspend the peers.
The three peers were found to have abused a £174 ($275.30)-a-day overnight allowance paid to politicians whose “main home” is outside the capital.
The committee found all three instead “had long-established London residences, in which they spent the bulk of their time, before acquiring a ‘main residence’ outside London, in which they spent a much smaller portion of their time.”
Lady Uddin and Lord Bhatia were found to have acted “not in good faith.” Lord Paul was cleared of that claim but his conduct was found to be “utterly unreasonable.”
Lord Bhatia and Lord Paul have paid back £41,982 ($66,411) and £27,446 ($43,411) they respectively owe.
Baroness Uddin has been suspended from the Labour Party and Lord Paul has resigned his party membership.
