Malik faces new expenses allegations
By politics.co.uk staff
Shahid Malik, the Labour MP made communities minister after he was cleared of wrongdoing over alleged preferential rent, has been hit by another expenses scandal.
The Telegraph has reported that the Dewsbury MP claimed the cost of a second office, alongside his constituency office.
Mr Malik admitted he has the office but said it was within the rules, having been lodged with the House authorities. He described the allegations as “complete fabrication”.
Sir Philip Mawer, independent advisor on the ministerial code, found Mr Malik’s rent on the previous case was charged at a reasonable rate in light of the market but asked him to put arrangements on a more formal basis.
Mr Malik, who professed his innocence from very early on in the scandal, later released a statement saying he felt entirely vindicated by the decision.
