Morley should resign….

for at least being out of touch. How can anyone NOT know that £800 was still coming into his bank account or that his mortgage had been paid off? It either doesn’t make sense or it means he’s not in touch with the general public. In the private sector wouldn’t he be at the least disciplined?

And we’ve still to look into the links with Ian Cawsey MP.

From the Telegraph:

Mr Morley, a former government whip and privy councillor, was renting out the London property, which was designated as his “main residence”, to another Labour MP.

Ian Cawsey, a Labour Party vice-chairman, who was renting the house, said last night he was unaware that the property was also Mr Morley’s main residence. It is unclear where Mr Morley was actually living in London.

For four months after Mr Morley “flipped” his homes, the former minister claimed full mortgage interest on the London house and Mr Cawsey, who had designated the house as his second home, continued to claim £1,000 a month for the same property in rent. The rent money was paid to Mr Morley.

Mr Cawsey, a friend of Mr Morley, said that he had no idea about Mr Morley’s arrangements. In a statement he said: “I do not have any interest or ownership rights to [the London house] or on any other home except my family home in my constituency. I receive no financial or personal gain from these arrangements.”

What was happening in those four months? It’s clear that Morley received both rent AND the mortgate interest relief. The court of public opinion doesn’t expect MPs to rent to each other but to be clear and simple in their second home arrangements. Whenever things are over-complicated you have to ask yourself `what exactly is going on?`