Eric Illsley pleads guilty to expenses fraud

An MP with close links to a trade association for licensees has admitted to claiming more than £14,000 in fradulent expenses.

Eric Illsley, who has worked as parliamentary advisor to the Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations (FLVA), pleaded guilty to three false accounting charges over claims for council tax, maintenance, repairs and utility bills for his second home in Kennington, London, between 2005 and 2008.

It poses questions about the future of lobbying efforts by the FLVA.

The Barnsley Central MP for Labour had previously denied wrongfully claiming more than £25,000. He was re-elected in May, but has sat as an independent since being charged. He is the only serving MP amongst those facing court.

Of Illsley's guilty plea to wrongfully claiming £14,500, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's special crime division Simon Clements told the BBC: "This was a significant sum of money and the grossly inflated claims he submitted could not be attributed to an oversight or accounting error — indeed he claimed that the expenses system was a way of supplementing members' salaries.

"By his guilty pleas he has accepted that he was dishonest in making these claims. As an elected representative, Eric Illsley took advantage of the trust placed in him by his constituents to act honourably on their behalf.

"Instead, he siphoned off public money into his own pockets and betrayed those who rightly expected the highest standards of integrity from him as a member of Parliament."

If Illsley receives a prison sentence of more than 12 months he will be disqualified as an MP.

On Friday former Labour MP David Chaytor became the first to be jailed over the expenses scandal.

The Morning Advertiser​ contacted FLVA members but has not yet received comment.