EXPENSES SCANDAL TORIES FINED £70K

Now ‘more likely’ MPs will face court

THE Conservative Party has been fined a record £70,000 for breaking election expenses regulations.

Yesterday’s ruling by the Electoral Commission came amid growing prospects that more than a dozen Tory MPs may now face trial for alleged poll fraud.

The party was fined for “numerous failures” in reporting its expenses in South Thanet during the 2015 election – when it was up against then-UKIP leader Nigel Farage – and at three by-elections in 2014.

Bosses claim it was an “administrative error” but the commission said it gave Conservative candidates a “financial advantage” over opponents.

The fine comes as more than a dozen Tory MPs wait to learn whether they will be charged with fraud after a Mirror investigation into election expenses.

Legal expert Professor Justin Fisher said: “Today it is looking more likely that we will see charges at the end of this.” PM Theresa May would say only: “They have imposed a fine and the Conservative Party will be meeting that fine.”

But rattled party chairman Patrick McLoughlin shoved his hand into a TV camera when quizzed outside Parliament. Shocked reporter Darren McCaffrey said: “I’m slightly taken aback. Clearly he is feeling a lot of pressure.”

Labour’s Rhea Wolfson called for tough action against Tory “crimes”, tweeting: “£70,000 is nothing to the Tory party. Corruption + attempts to subvert our democracy are + should be crimes + should be treated as such.”

Ex-Lib Dem MP Stephen Williams tweeted: “Tories fined for cheating in the election that they ‘won’ very narrowly, enabling them to call EU referendum, leading to Brexit disaster.” Yesterday’s fine, which followed a Channel 4 investigation, dwarfed previous £20,000 penalties for Labour and the Lib Dems.

Former party treasurer Simon Day has been referred to the police. Meanwhile a dozen forces have sent files to the Crown Prosecution Service as part of a parallel probe sparked by a Mirror investigation into the Tories’ 2015 expenses. At least three MPs have been quizzed.

We revealed that battlebuses packed with Tory activists were sent to help candidates in more than two dozen marginal constituencies in the last days of the election. But despite appearing to campaign for individual candidates, thousands of pounds of costs on bus hire, hotel bills and food were registered as part of the Tories’ national campaign.

This ensured candidates did not break strict spending limits. Failing to register all election expenses is a criminal offence and, if convicted, MPs face up to a year in jail and an unlimited fine.

Their election would be declared void and a by-election would follow.

Yesterday the Electoral Commission upheld our findings and said that part of the battlebus costs should have been declared locally.

Labour MP John Mann said: “There are obviously some worried MPs and most people expect several by-elections because of this.”

Most people expect several by-elections because of this JOHN MANN LABOUR MP SPEAKING YESTERDAY