THE TELEGRAPH: Shahid Malik has admitted that the taxpayer had met the costs of office space in his constituency house and his designated second home in London simultaneously.
Mr Malik said he needed the extra office space because the constituency office he inherited was not big enough. Photo courtesy of The Telgraph
The Communities Minister claimed the maximum second home allowance for his London property while the office on the ground floor of his constituency house was funded through a separate parliamentary “office” expenses system.
The disclosure threatens to undermine the Prime Minister who only returned Mr Malik to government earlier this week after receiving assurances that his financial affairs were in order.
It now appears that Downing Street failed to scrutinise Mr Malik’s expense claims thoroughly before allowing him to hold ministerial office again. MPs' Expenses: Shahid Malik Admits Charging Taxpayer for Two Houses >>> By Robert Winnett, James Kirkup and Holly Watt | Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Gordon Brown Accused of Expenses 'Cover-up' Over Shahid Malik's Return to Government
THE TELEGRAPH: Gordon Brown has been accused of suppressing a report of an investigation into whether the minister Shahid Malik broke the rules over parliamentary expenses, despite a promise to bring in a new era of "transparency" in politics.
Shahid Malik MP and Tahir Zaman. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
Mr Brown was accused of "falling at the first hurdle" in his efforts to reform Westminster by refusing to release the full report of an inquiry into Mr Malik's affairs.
Sir Christopher Kelly, the chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said last night the report should be published.
Mr Malik stepped down as justice minister last month after The Daily Telegraph reported his landlord's claim that he was paying well below the market rate for his constituency home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
Tahir Zaman claimed that the MP was paying less than £100 a week for the three-bedroom house which he designated as his main home, thereby allowing him to claim thousands of pounds by designating his house in London as his second home.
Sir Philip Mawer, Gordon Brown's adviser on ministerial conduct, was asked to investigate because The Telegraph's disclosures raised questions about whether Mr Malik's rental arrangements over his main home breached the ministerial code of conduct.
The code states that members of the Government must not accept any "gift or hospitality" which risks putting them under an "obligation".
It also says that ministers must inform civil servants of "all interests which might be thought to give rise to a conflict" of interest.
Officials at the Ministry of Justice had not been formally notified of Mr Malik's arrangements.
Yesterday Mr Brown reappointed Mr Malik as a minister, giving him a job in the Department of Communities and Local Government.
Announcing the appointment, Downing Street said a report by Sir Philip cleared Mr Malik of any wrongdoing over his arrangement with Mr Zaman, who was once fined for letting an "uninhabitable" home. Mr Zaman claimed that the tenants were already in occupation when he took over the property.
However, Mr Brown has refused to approve the release of Sir Philip's report. The refusal threatens to overshadow a Commons statement from the Prime Minister today about moves to clean up the Westminster expenses system. >>> By James Kirkup | Wednesday, June 10, 2009
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Shahid Malik. Photo: Google Images
TIMESONLINE: Shahid Malik, the Justice Minister exposed as the biggest expenses claimant of all MPs, was forced to step down today to await the outcome of an inquiry into his living costs.
Downing Street said that Gordon Brown asked Sir Philip Mawer, the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests, to investigate whether Mr Malik’s alleged benefit of a subsidised rent breached the ministerial code.
The announcement by No 10 came minutes after the Labour MP for Dewsbury had refused to apologise, offering instead to donate the cost of his 40ins flat-screen television to a local charity.
