British sleaze row claims first casualties

Britain's ruling Labour party suspended a senior lawmaker and a top aide to the head of the opposition stepped down yesterday in a widening political expenses scandal that is alienating voters.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Conservative rival David Cameron are under pressure to crack down on excessive expense claims in their parties after a series of damaging leaks that threaten to overshadow European and local elections next month.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper has caused both major parties embarrassment with daily revelations about how lawmakers have claimed for expenses such as cleaning swimming pools and moats, installing a chandelier and buying manure for the garden. The disclosures have infuriated voters at a time when Britain is in deep recession and many are losing their jobs.

Conservative legislator Andrew Mackay resigned as a senior adviser to Mr Cameron after a review of his expenses revealed an "unacceptable situation," a spokesman for Mr Cameron said.

Mr Brown said the Labour party had suspended Elliot Morley, a former agriculture minister who filed £16,000 of expense claims for a mortgage he had already paid off.

"The highest standards have got to be upheld in public life," Mr Brown told reporters.

They are the first politicians to be disciplined in the row over political perks that analysts say may either put voters off taking part in the June 4 polls or encourage them to choose fringe groups like the far-right British National Party.

Mr Morley, chairman of parliament's energy and climate change committee, will still sit in parliament but will lose certain privileges pending an investigation. He is also suspended from his post as Mr Brown's envoy on climate change.

Mr Morley said he had repaid the money and apologised for making a mistake.

In a separate scandal, a parliamentary watchdog said two Labour members of the upper House of Lords should be suspended after a newspaper alleged they were prepared to take large sums of money for trying to get laws amended.

The perks controversy has hurt both major parties and shaken faith in the probity of Britain's Parliament, which traces its origins to the 12th century.