MPs let off ‘Mr and Mrs Expenses’ with a £1,500 payback

Two London Labour MPs dubbed "Mr and Mrs Expenses" were today cleared of personally pocketing taxpayers' cash despite a damning verdict by an anti-sleaze watchdog.

Health Minister Ann Keen and her husband Alan were found by the parliamentary commissioner for
standards John Lyon to have made a "serious misjudgment" over their £36,000-a-year claim for a second home allowance.

The pair, who both have west London constituencies just a short commute from the Commons, continued to claim expenses for a Westminster flat even though their "main home" was boarded up.

However, the Keens were told to pay back just £1,500 after the Labour-dominated standards and privileges committee found that there were "very significant mitigating factors".

In a move that will infuriate campaigners, the committee of MPs decided that the couple should not be heavily penalised because their claims had been signed off by parliamentary officials.

The MPs said there was a "lack of evidence" that the Keens had intended to make personal financial gain from their arrangements.

The committee did agree with Mr Lyon that the couple had been in breach of Commons rules because for four months last year they "claimed allowances for a second home when they only had one home available".

The verdict on the Keens came as four parliamentarians headed for court on charges of false accounting. Three Labour MPs and one Tory peer were all appearing at Westminster magistrates' court.

In a separate development, Labour MP Harry Cohen was also reported to be under investigation by the Met over his £70,000 claim.