MPs appeal to Supreme Court
THREE former Labour MPs facing criminal trials over expenses fiddling allegations will go to the Supreme Court next month to argue that the criminal courts do not have jurisdiction to hear their cases.
Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice, refused permission to take the case to the Supreme Court in the wake of its dismissal, in July, of argument by Jim Devine, David Chaytor and Elliot Morley that they are protected from prosecution by parliamentary privilege.
But he gave them permission to pose a question to the Supreme Court Justices, allowing them to make a direct application for a final hearing into the case.
Devine, 57, of Bathgate, Chaytor, 60, of Todmorden, West Yorkshire and Morley, 58, of Winterton, north Lincolnshire are to face separate trials at Southwark Crown Court.