It has touched Bury North particularly because its Labour MP, David Chaytor, is among the handful now facing criminal charges.

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The other three - Margaret Moran, David Chaytor and Elliot Morley - have said they will stand down at the next election.

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Ms Moran is the third MP - after Elliot Morley and David Chaytor - to be referred to the panel over their conduct.

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Two other Labour MPs - David Chaytor and Ben Chapman - have also admitted "errors" in claiming for mortgages that had already been paid off.

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He is the third Parliamentarian to appear in court over their expenses - two former Labour MPs, Eric Illsley and David Chaytor, have pleaded guilty.

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Six Parliamentarians - former MPs Elliot Morley, David Chaytor, Jim Devine and Eric Illsley and peers Lords Taylor and Hanningfield - have been prosecuted for fraudulent expenses claims.

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David Chaytor, a leading Labour rebel, said there were "a dozen ways in which schools have selection by ability in a covert way, and that has to be tackled".

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He denied that the looseness of the rules meant, effectively, none may be punished - pointing out two MPs, Elliot Morley and David Chaytor, had already been suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party.

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