UK minister steps down as police eye expenses inquiry

A British minister became the highest profile casualty in an expenses scandal yesterday and police said they were looking at launching a criminal inquiry into a spate of disclosures that have tarnished Parliament.

Junior Justice Minister Shahid Malik stepped down yesterday pending an inquiry into allegations that he paid below-market rent for a house, breaching Britain's ministerial code.

Mr Malik, who denies any wrongdoing, is the latest politician to suffer from the fallout of a growing controversy over politicians' expenses paid by the taxpayer which has drawn a wave of voter anger.

"I am confident that there has been no such breach (of the ministerial code) and look forward to the findings of the inquiry...," Mr Malik said.

The wider scandal stoked by daily disclosures of information obtained by the Daily Telegraph newspaper has caused a backlash against all the major parties, but particularly against Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour party, in power since 1997.

After receiving complaints about the politicians' expenses, London police and public prosecutors said they have "jointly decided to convene a panel to assess allegations in order to decide whether criminal investigations should be started."

The panel will meet next week.

There have been calls for police to intervene to investigate allegations of abuse by legislators, who have claimed thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money for items ranging from dog food and light bulbs to having their swimming pools cleaned.

An opinion poll published yesterday showed Labour slumping to an all-time low as the government bore the brunt of voter anger over the expenses scandal.

The YouGov survey for the Sun newspaper found 22 per cent support for Labour, with the Conservatives on 41 per cent.

That would give the Conservatives a landslide victory at the parliamentary election Mr Brown must call within the next year.

Mr Brown asked his independent adviser on ministerial interests, Philip Mawer, to investigate the allegations about Mr Malik, made in yesterday's Telegraph.

Mr Malik said he had followed the rules on Parliamentary expenses and the Telegraph allegations were inaccurate.

A member of Parliament was suspended from the Labour party and a senior adviser to opposition Conservative leader David Cameron stepped down on Thursday over their expense claims.

The controversy has overshadowed the campaign for June 4 local and European elections, when analysts expect many voters either to stay away or vote for fringe parties, such as the far-right British National Party.

The Daily Telegraph has embarrassed both major parties with the disclosures about how many lawmakers have run up tens of thousands of pounds of questionable expenses - with some claiming for cleaning a moat, installing a chandelier and buying manure for the garden.

Voters are furious at what they see as lawmakers milking the system at a time when the deepest recession since World War II is throwing hundreds of thousands out of work.