Elliot Morley in court over expenses

Former environment minister Elliot Morley is due in court today accused of fiddling his parliamentary expenses to the tune of �32,000.

The ex-Labour MP, who stood down from his seat at the last election, was charged with claiming �16,800 on a phantom mortgage after being caught up in the expenses scandal in 2009.

He is also accused of pocketing �15,800 on mortgage claims after inflating the amount he was actually paying.

Mr Morley, 58, faces two charges of false accounting in relation to the claims against his home in Winterton, near Scunthorpe, between 2004 and 2007.

Originally from Liverpool, Mr Morley's first step on the political ladder came in Hull when he was elected to the city council in 1979.

Before joining the authority he was already well-known in the city's political circles through his role as a teaching union official.

He started teaching at Greatfield School in east Hull in 1975 and quickly rose through the local ranks of the National Union of Teachers to become Hull branch president.

But it was after his election as a Labour councillor in the city's Avenues ward that his public profile took off.

An MP for Scunthorpe since 1987, the former teacher was one of Labour's most prominent voices on agricultural issues and the environment.

He was party spokesman on rural affairs and animal welfare from 1989 until the 1997 election victory, and served under Tony Blair as environment minister from 2003 to 2006.

According to the indictment, he filled out 19 claim forms stating he was paying �800 per month in mortgage interest "when in fact he was paying a lesser amount" between May 2 2004 and May 15 2006.

He also filled out 21 claim forms for �800 per month in mortgage interest "when in fact the mortgage had been redeemed" between May 2006 and November 28 2007.

Morley, who is on bail, is due to appear before Mr Justice Saunders at London's Southwark Crown Court. The case is listed for mention.

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