Lib Dems to face police probe over £200,000 of election cash
THE Liberal Democrats were facing a police probe last night after the electoral watchdog found the party had failed to declare almost £200,000 in expenses.
The Electoral Commission hit the Lib Dems with the maximum £20,000 fine yesterday for failing to give a proper account of spending at last year’s General Election.
It also asked the Metropolitan Police to investigate whether party chief executive Tim Gordon had breached electoral law by ‘knowingly or recklessly’ submitting a false spending declaration – a criminal offence that carries a maximum one-year jail term.
The development is deeply embarrassing for Nick Clegg, who was party leader at the time of the election. It also involves his successor, Tim Farron, whose election spending was one of those examined during the Electoral Commission investigation.
In October, Labour was also fined the maximum £20,000 over missing receipts covering £123,748 of campaign spending. Receipts not submitted included a £7,614 bill for the ‘Ed Stone’ – a limestone slab carved with Ed Miliband’s election promises.
The Conservatives are also being investigated by the commission over their spending declarations.
In addition, at least a dozen police forces have begun investigations into whether the Conservatives breached spending limits in individual constituencies, including Thanet
‘Neither complete nor correct’
South, where the party made a concerted effort to keep out Nigel Farage.
Electoral Commission chief Claire Bassett yesterday called for a big increase in the maximum fines available for the offence. She said the fines were so small they could be seen by parties as a ‘cost of business’.
The investigation into the Lib Dems found that 307 payments totalling £184,676 were missing from their spending return without a reasonable excuse. Invoices supporting 122 out of the 307 payments were also missing from the party’s return.
Political parties have to keep within tight spending limits in every constituency at election time. They also have to conform to national spending limits. All the parties split many individual items of spending between the two. But spot checks in some constituencies, including that of Mr Farron, uncovered more than £27,000 of spending attributed to the national campaign but not recorded in the national accounts. None of the candidates are blamed for the errors.
The inquiry found that the party’s national spending returns were ‘neither complete nor correct’ and said there was evidence that some people at Lib Dem HQ had known the accounts were incomplete when they were submitted by Mr Gordon.
A Lib Dem spokesman said: ‘These mistakes, caused by issues with a small number of local accounting units, were a result of human error and failures of process. We are taking steps to ensure these mistakes are not repeated in future. We will co-operate fully with any investigation.’