The last year exposed countless scandals to do with MPs in our government claiming ridiculous amounts of personal spending in their expenses, using tax payer’s money from the nation’s hard earned wages.

The media got wind of what was going on and made it public knowledge, forcing the government to tackle this travesty head on. After a thorough investigation, it has been revealed today that 3 MPs and one peer from the Tory party will face criminal charges. Lord Hanningfield, Jim Devine, David Chaytor and Elliot Morley will each be charged under the ‘Theft Act’ to bring them to justice for their actions. All of them will plead ‘not guilty’.

When questioned about the charges being brought against them, the MPs released a joint statement, saying that they would defend their position “robustly”. It is not surprising that their case has come into the limelight; the government needed to make an example of the worst culprits to satisfy the tax paying nation who had been angered at the scandals.

There is still one other case under investigation by the police, but Labour peer Lord Clark will now not face any charges.

Some of those charged have been accused of “dishonest claiming” and providing “false invoices” for their expenses, which included mortgage payments, IT services and cleaning and stationary bills. Lord Hanningfield submitted claims for expenses that he knew he was not entitled to, including hotels stays in London overnight. One of the MPs claimed £16,000 for mortgage payments on a house that had already been paid off, and another claimed rent on a property that he owed outright.

None of the MPs have been found to have claimed expenses for hiring London escorts, but there were some other questionable purchases, such as a claim for pornographic movie viewing as a parliamentary expense last year.

Criminal charges have been brought because the police believe that none of these cases were a result of a simple misunderstanding about the rules of expenses; each one is believed to have been calculated dishonesty in full knowledge of that they were doing. Despite the evidence brought against them, the MPs and the Tory peer are still behaving as if they have done nothing wrong, stating that they are “disappointed” and “devastated” by the news today. The rest of us are just hoping that justice will be done to set an example for any other MPs who think that they can use tax payer’s money for personal gain.