LIBERAL DEMOCRAT MP David Laws’s hope that he could return to the British cabinet has been dealt a blow, following a decision to suspend him from the House of Commons for seven days for breaching expenses rules.
Mr Laws was forced to quit last year as chief secretary to the treasury, just 17 days after he had been appointed, once it emerged that he had paid rent to his partner James Lundie.
Under parliamentary rules, MPs are forbidden from paying rent to partners.
Mr Laws, defending his actions after he had resigned, said that he had wanted to keep his homosexuality secret.
His supporters have pointed out that he could have legitimately claimed £30,000 more in expenses if he had rented at the market rate.
The House of Commons’s parliamentary commissioner for standards John Lyon was sympathetic to Mr Laws’s desire for privacy, but said he should have either been completely transparent about his domestic arrangements, or not have claimed anything at all.
“I have no evidence that Mr Laws made his claims with the intention of benefiting himself or his partner in conscious breach of the rules. [His] wish to maintain his personal privacy cannot, in my view, justify – although it may explain – such conduct,” said Mr Lyons.
In a statement to fellow MPs, Mr Laws apologised: “I recognise that my attempts to keep my personal life private were in conflict with my duty as an MP to ensure that my claims were in every sense above reproach.”
Prime minister David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who would both like to see Mr Laws return to cabinet, were supportive yesterday.
“He has a lot to offer,” said Mr Cameron.