David Laws: 'I take full responsibility for the mistakes I have made'
Fallen Liberal Democrat star David Laws issued an
The former Cabinet minister misled Commons authorities over his housing arrangements with his secret gay lover, an inquiry found. He also claimed thousands of pounds in "excessive rent", it suggested.
The 45-year-old now faces suspension from the Commons. He insists he concealed the fact that he was renting accommodation from his partner because he did not want his sexuality to be revealed.
But the powerful Commons Standards and Privileges Committee delivering a scathing verdict on his conduct that will severely damage his hopes of an early Cabinet comeback.
Afterwards, Mr Laws, who has now come out to family and friends, said: "I accept the conclusions of the inquiry and take full responsibility for the mistakes which I have made. I apologise to my constituents and to Parliament.
"Each of us should be our own sternest critic, and I recognise that my attempts to keep my personal life private were in conflict with my duty as an MP to ensure that my claims were in every sense above reproach. I should have resolved this dilemma in the public interest and not in the interests of my privacy." He has already repaid £56,000.
Mr Laws rocked the Lib-Con Coalition last May when he resigned as Chief Secretary to the Treasury after just 17 days in office, when details of his use of taxpayers' money for a second home were made public.
Today the standards committee found that Mr Laws had wrongly designated which home was his main one from April 2005. He had claimed it was his constituency home in Somerset, but had increasingly been staying more in London.
He had moved to a new property in the capital, with his previous landlord and partner James Lundie, in 2007. Their new home was partly financed by a "gift" of £99,000 from Mr Laws who remortgaged his Somerset property to provide this sum.
From 2006, MPs were banned from renting from partners but Mr Laws continued to do so. The committee concluded: "The evidence suggests that Mr Laws' rental claims were excessive in comparison to market rent." In addition, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Sir John Lyon, who carried out the inquiry, said the lodging agreements submitted by Mr Laws gave a "false impression" of the relationship with his landlord.
"Mr Laws' wish to maintain his personal privacy cannot, in my view, justify - although it might explain - such conduct," said the commissioner. He found Mr Laws claimed for higher rent from his allowances than was justified under the lodging agreement or the true arrangement between the pair, and that Mr Laws wrongly claimed £2,000 for building work on the London home.
Mr Laws said: "I have made clear my motivation was to protect my privacy, [not] to benefit from the system of parliamentary expenses. I am pleased the Commissioner has upheld that view."
