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| The Right Honourable Elliot Morley MP |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 11 June 1987 |
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| Preceded by | Richard Hickmet |
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| Majority | 8,963 (27.4%) |
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| Born | 6 July 1952 Liverpool, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour (Suspended from Parliamentary Labour Party, whip still in place) |
| Spouse(s) | Patricia Hunt |
| Children | 1 son, 1 daughter |
| Residence | Winterton, Lincolnshire |
| Alma mater | Hull College of Education |
| Profession | Teacher |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Website | http://www.elliotmorley.co.uk |
Elliot Anthony Morley (born 6 July 1952) is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Glanford and Scunthorpe from 1987 to 1997 and has been MP for Scunthorpe since 1997. In 2009, he was accused by the Daily Telegraph of continuing to claim parliamentary expenses for a mortgage that had already been repaid.[1] Morley faces a police investigation into his expenses claims.[2]
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Early life
He went to school at St. Margaret's C of E High School, Liverpool on Aigburth Road in Aigburth in south Liverpool. He received a BEd from Hull College of Education. He was head of Special Needs at Greatfield High School in Hull.
Political career
Before entering parliament, he was a councillor on Hull City Council representing Drypool Ward from 1979 to 1986.
He served as Fisheries Minister from 1997 to 2003. He was Minister for Environment and Agri-Environment in DEFRA but left government in the May 2006 reshuffle. During his time in Government Morley pushed strongly for a series of environmental causes. In 2004, he urged to strengthen the United Kingdom's efforts to purchase legally harvested lumber[3] and aided the launch a program to manage flooding and coastal erosion called 'WaveNet'. Following in 2005, Morley assisted in the establishment of a Governmental Decontamination Service,[4] which would provide decontamination and cleansing assistance after deliberate chemical, radiological, biological, or nuclear incidents and major accidental releases of harmful materials.[5]
On 19 December 2006, he was appointed to the Privy Council.[6] He is currently Chairman of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, (although he has stepped aside from this post while his expenses claims are investigated). In 2007 Morley voted to support the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill,[7] which would have given Parliament a blanket exemption from the Freedom of Information Act and thereby prevented the release of any information on expenses claims by Members of Parliament.[8]
Expenses claims
As part of its disclosure of expenses of British Members of Parliament, The Daily Telegraph reported on 14 May 2009 that Morley claimed £800 a month for a property in Winterton, near Scunthorpe, for 18 months after the mortgage ended, and allegedly receiving an overpayment £16,800 in total.[9]
The Telegraph also alleges Morley rented out a London flat designated as his main residence to another Labour MP, Ian Cawsey, a close friend and former special adviser. Cawsey named the property as his second home, allowing him to claim £1,000 a month to cover the rent which he was charged by Mr Morley. In November 2007, the newspaper claims Morley "flipped" his designated second home from his Scunthorpe property to his London flat, and for four months the two men claimed expenses on the same property.[10]
Morley told BBC News that he had repaid the money two weeks prior to the Telegraph story breaking upon realising he had mistakenly continued claiming for his mortgage payments after the mortgage had been paid off in 2006.[10] On 14 May 2009 he was suspended from holding office in the Parliamentary Labour Party because of this scandal.[10] Morley has referred himself to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon, in an effort to clear his name.[10] It is reported that this inquiry is currently on hold pending a police investigation.[2] On May 29, 2009 he announced that he would not stand for re-election, but refused to resign immediately.[11]
Personal life
He married Patricia Hunt in 1975 in Hull. They have two children: a son (born August 1984) and a daughter (born 1980). He is Honorary Vice President of the Association of Drainage Authorities and Wildlife and Countryside Link. He is Honorary President of North Lincolnshire Royal Society for the Protection of Animals. He has an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Lincoln for services to nature conservation and one from the Institution of Civil Engineers for services to flood and coastal defence. He is a former President of Hull Teachers Association and a former Council member of the RSPB.
Notes
- ^ "Daily Telegraph". http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5320852/Elliot-Morley-claimed-16800-for-mortgage-that-did-not-exist-MPs-expenses.html. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
- ^ a b Sarah Sharma, "Tax affairs of 27 MPs under investigation", The Times, 17 October 2009.
- ^ Illegal Logging
- ^ WaveNet
- ^ Defra Coverage of Governmental Decontamination Service.
- ^ "www.number10.gov.uk". http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page10650.asp. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
- ^ How your MP voted on the FOI Bill, The Times, 20 May 2007.
- ^ Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2006-07, Parliament website.
- ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5320852/Elliot-Morley-claimed-16000-for-mortgage-that-did-not-exist-MPs-expenses.html
- ^ a b c d "Brown suspends mortgage claim MP". BBC News. 2009-05-14. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8049096.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
- ^ "Eliot Morley to stand down as MP". BBC News. 2009-05-29. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8073923.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
External links
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