Recall petition means possible by-election for Tory MP after criminal conviction over fake expenses
Chris Davies: Behind bars – altbough he won’t be jailed over his fraudulent expenses claim.
It’s happening: Voters in Brecon and Radnorshire will be asked to sign a petition demanding a by-election after their MP was convicted of expenses fraud.
Chris Davies – who also happens to be This Writer’s MP – was fined £1,500 and ordered to do 50 hours’ community service after he was found guilty of submitting fake expenses invoices for £700 of landscape photographs to decorate his office.
The “recall petition” will trigger a by-election if it is signed by 10 per cent of the constituency’s electorate or more.
The comments of Mr Justice Edis, when sentencing the MP, were damning: “It seems shocking that when confronted with a simple accounting problem, you thought to forge documents. That is an extraordinary thing for a man with your position and your background to do.
“There was no error here. What you did was done quite deliberately and it must have taken some time to create your fake documents. MPs ask the public to place their trust in them and in an election that’s what happens.
“They become the guardians of the nation’s democracy and depend on the public holding them in high esteem. Any significant betrayal of that standard is serious and crosses the custody threshold.
“The recall process may end your political career – that’s part of the machinery.”
Chris Davies has turned out to be utterly useless as a representative of the people. His actions have shown that he was interested only in serving himself.
This Writer will be signing the petition. I hope many other voters in Brecon and Radnorshire will also want a proper MP – for a change.
Source: Tory MP Chris Davies could face byelection after fake expenses claim | Politics | The Guardian
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Criminal Deception, Forgery, Theft and a serious breach of public trust and all this odious, dishonest character gets is a fine and Community Service. If this had been a Benefit recipient they would have almost certainly got a custodial sentence.
It must have been the faking of documents that sunk him, after all there are plenty of others who have got away with falsely claiming far more than that.
He’s a Tory. That’s what Tories do: cheat, chisel and thieve public funds.
Where do you access the petition Mike? Isn’t he a member of EDG ? And a strong supporter of Austerity?
The Brecon and Radnorshire returning officer should publicise how you can sign it. I’ll keep an eye out for information to make sure it doesn’t get overlooked somehow.
Justice is done, as the great sword of political irony cuts off his fatuous head. Hope he never returns again.
In most organisations “fiddling” expenses is classed as Gross Misconduct and warrants instant dismissal as it is in fact theft. The judge has in effect found him guilty of theft. As an MP he can only lose his seat is by the 10% signing the petition. Karma!
WHY ? One would think having a well paid job + perks etc would be sufficient but no, greed has caught him out . . . .
See you at the Jobcentre some time . . .