The judge said he accepted that the processing of the expenses was part of the workings of parliament, but that there was no reason to extend parliamentary privilege to expense claims.Yes, good call. Allowing the submission of false expenses to be included as 'Parliamentary proceedings' and therefore protected by the Bill of Rights would have been insane, not to mention have set a very iffy precedent, and a nice reminder of the principle of equality before the law to wrap things up. Excellent stuff.
"There has to be a line drawn and it has to be drawn somewhere," he told Southwark Crown Court in central London, the Press Association reported.
"I can see no logical, practical or moral justification for a claim for expenses being covered by privilege; and I can see no legal justification for it either.
"In my judgement, the conduct alleged against these defendants is not covered by parliamentary privilege and is triable in the Crown Court," he said.
"The principle that all men are equal before the law is an important one and should be observed unless there is good reason why it should not apply."
But it's not all good news. The judge gave them leave to appeal and they've said they're going to - needless to say that'll cost the taxpayer another small fortune, but the country's so far up shit creek money-wise that another few hundred grand is like a dropping a spoonful of water on a drowning man. I suppose it's better to allow the appeal now so they can't play it later, and if equality before the law is to mean anything it has to apply to cockstains like these too. Also disappointing was that my wish that on the way out of court they should fall down the stairs and land on their bollocks didn't come true, but I'm not too upset about that since they still might end up re-enacting some of the more graphic scenes in The Shawshank Redemption.
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"I suppose it's better to allow the appeal now so they can't play it later..."
And also to close the door in advance of us catching some of the new intake at it.
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