Ex-Rotherham MP MacShane charged

DISGRACED ex-MP Denis MacShane has been charged with false accounting over his parliamentary expenses claims.

The Crown Prosecution Service made the announcement after being handed a file of evidence from Scotland Yard.

MacShane (65), who was Rotherham MP from 1994 to 2012, will appear before magistrates in London later this month.

Malcolm McHaffie, deputy head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said the charge, under the Theft Act, related to alleged fraudulent claims with a total value of £12,900.

Police began looking into MacShane’s expenses in October 2010 and he was twice stripped of the Labour whip.

The former Europe minister quit last November after a parliamentary panel recommended a 12-month suspension from the House of Commons over his expenses.

MacShane will appear at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on July 30.

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