By Tony Grew - 16th May 2011
Former Treasury chief secretary David Laws has been suspended from the House of Commons for seven sitting days.
MPs apporoved the sanction without a vote - it will take effect tomorrow.
Laws, Lib Dem MP for Yeovil, last week apologised to the House and admitted that he had made incorrect expenses claims over a number of years.
Moving the motion to sanction him, Commons leader Sir George Young said it was the practice of the House to accept the recommendations of the standards and privileges committee.
"It's always regrettable when the House finds it necessary to suspend an honourable member as it does today," he said.
"This has been a lengthy inquiry. The (standards) commissioner has completed his inquiry as quickly as is consistent with a need for absolute rigour."
Shadow deputy leader of the House Helen Jones said the penalty was right, given "the seriousness of the breaches".
Frank Field (Lab, Birkenhead) complained that the committee took more than a year to report.
He also said the punishments handed out to MPs and ex-MPs in relation to expenses was not even-handed.
Some "had not even had their knuckles rapped with a ruler," he told the House.
Kevin Barron, chair of the standards committee, said he faced condemnation both for being too tough on Laws and not tough enough.
He said the timescale of the committee's report was determined by the standards commissioner's inquiry.
Laws resigned from the cabinet in May 2010 soon after taking the position of chief secretary to the Treasury after he was discovered to have claimed rent for a flat he shared with his partner, breaking Commons rules.
Laws said his actions were motivated by his desire to keep his homosexuality secret rather than to profit financially.
He reported himself to the Commons parliamentary commissioner for standards who, while sympathetic, concluded that Laws should have either been honest about his living arrangements or not claimed any money at all.
Last week Laws apologised to the House after the standards committee report was published.
His suspension begins tomorrow - he will not be paid and will be banned from the parliamentary estate.
Because of the Whitsun recess, he will not be able to return to the Palace of Westminster until June 9.
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