Former Tory peer jailed for expenses fraud

Lord Taylor, 58, was jailed on Tuesday for falsely claiming more than £11,000 in expenses for travel and overnight subsistence.

He told the House of Lords Members’ Expenses Office that his main residence was a house in Oxford, when in fact he lived in west London.

The peer only twice visited the Oxford property, which was owned by his half-nephew’s partner, and so he was not entitled to claim money for travelling from there to London and staying overnight in the capital.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Saunders said Lord Taylor had lied to journalists investigating his expenses and lied while giving evidence to the jury on oath during his trial.

He said: “The expenses scheme in the House of Lords was based on trust.

“Peers certified that their claims were accurate. They were not required to provide proof. It was considered that people who achieved a peerage could be relied on to be honest.

“Making false claims involved a breach of a high degree of trust.

“The expenses scandal has affected the standing not just of the House of Commons but also the House of Lords.”

Lord Taylor, a Birmingham-born former barrister who became the first black Conservative peer when he took his seat in the House of Lords in 1996, is set to remain a member of the Upper House despite being jailed.

It can be revealed today that about 15 fellow peers – including Lord Clarke of Hampstead, a former chairman of the Labour Party – refused to give evidence to support Lord Taylor’s defence.

Lord Taylor, of Lynwood Road, Ealing, was the first parliamentarian to stand trial and be found guilty by a jury over the expenses scandal.

He was convicted in January of six counts of false accounting for making £11,277.80-worth of fraudulent claims between March 2006 and October 2007.

The peer told his trial that he understood he only needed a “family connection” to a property to call it a main residence on his claim forms.

He also maintained he was following advice given to him by fellow peers that nominating a residence outside of the capital was a way to earn money “in lieu of salary”. He has now repaid the money he wrongly claimed.

Wearing a charcoal double-breasted suit with a blue shirt and a blue and white tie, Lord Taylor made no reaction as he was sentenced.

The disgraced peer is expected to spend his first night behind bars at Wandsworth Prison in south London.

He could be freed after serving just three months of his sentence under early release rules for non-violent prisoners who pose a low risk.

Four former Labour MPs – David Chaytor, Eric Illsley, Jim Devine and Elliot Morley – have also received prison terms for fiddling their parliamentary expenses.

Another Conservative peer, Lord Hanningfield, will be sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court next month after he was found guilty last week of fraudulently claiming nearly £14,000 in his Lords expenses.