Three MPs and one peer to be charged over expenses

Elliot Morley, David Chaytor, Jim Devine and Lord Hanningfield face charges

Three Labour MPs and one Tory peer will face criminal charges over their expenses, Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer has said.

MPs Elliot Morley, Jim Devine, David Chaytor and Lord Hanningfield will be charged under the Theft Act.

All four have said they denied any charges and would defend their positions robustly.

Revelations about MPs' expenses emerged in May last year with the police going on to investigate a handful of cases.

Mr Starmer said there was "insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of a conviction" in the case of Labour peer Lord Clarke but said a sixth case remains under police investigation.

False accounting charges

Announcing the Crown Prosecution Service decision, Mr Starmer said: "In four cases, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges and that it is in the public interest to charge the individuals concerned.

"Accordingly, summonses in these cases have been obtained from the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court and will now be served on the individuals in question."

It means that the four will not be arrested but will be sent a summons to turn up on 11 March at the court - not far from Parliament.

All four Parliamentarians will face charges of false accounting made under section 17 of the Theft Act 1968. Anyone convicted faces a maximum sentence of seven years' imprisonment.

Former minister Elliot Morley, MP for Scunthorpe, will face two charges in relation to a total of £30,000 of mortgage interest claims on a property in Winterton, Lincolnshire between 2004 and 2007.

Mortgage claims

The charges allege he made claims "in excess of that to which he was entitled" and - for part of the period when "there was no longer a mortgage on that property".

David Chaytor, MP for Bury North, is accused of "dishonestly claiming" £1,950 for IT services and further sums of £12, 925 and £5,425 relating to rent claims on properties which he and his mother allegedly owned.

Livingston MP Jim Devine is accused of "dishonestly claiming" money for cleaning services and for stationery using false invoices.

Speaking outside his home he said it was the charges that were being brought were new and could be easily explained, adding: "I'm absolutely distraught and astonished at the decision that's been taken today."

In a joint statement, the three MPs said they were "clearly extremely disappointed" that charges were being brought.

"We totally refute any charges that we have committed an offence and we will defend our position robustly," the statement said.

"We are confident of our position and have been advised by eminent QCs."

'Vigorously' defend

They added that the issue should have been resolved by the Parliamentary Commissioner for standards and said while the expenses system had been "utterly discredited" they believed there had been "a complete inconsistency of approach to different individual cases".

Essex County Council leader Paul White - the Conservative peer Lord Hanningfield - is accused of "dishonestly" submitting claims "for expenses to which he knew he was not entitled" - including overnight stays in London.

CPS statement on MPs' expenses

He denied the charges and said he would "vigorously" defend himself against them adding: "All the claims I have ever made were made in good faith. I have never claimed more in expenses than I have spent in the course of my duties.

"To avoid any embarrassment or distraction for my party, I am standing down from my frontbench duties in the House of Lords with immediate effect."

The Conservatives said he had been suspended from the parliamentary party. David Chaytor and Elliot Morley were suspended from the parliamentary Labour party last May.

The solicitors acting for Lord Clarke said he was "hugely relieved that the nine month investigation into his claims under the House of Lords' Allowances Scheme has ended at last, and that he has been cleared of having committed any criminal offence".

Legal expert Joshua Rozenberg explains the charges

Legal analyst Joshua Rozenberg told the BBC that Keir Starmer and the MPs' joint statement implied that the issue of Parliamentary privilege might be used by defence lawyers.

It traditionally guarantees MPs and peers immunity from slander laws for statements in Parliamentary debate and also relates to access to the Parliamentary buildings.

But he said it appeared that lawyers had suggested it may extend to the charges faced - the MPs' statement said it was "an issue that should be resolved by the parliamentary commissioner who is there to enforce any breach of the rules".

In his statement Mr Starmer said: "We have considered that question and concluded that the applicability and extent of any Parliamentary privilege claimed should be tested in court."

US stocks plunge for second day over Obama bank plan

US President Barack Obama: "I am proposing simple, common sense reforms"

US stock markets have tumbled for a second consecutive day, on concern over President Obama's plan to revamp the US banking industry.

The Dow Jones plunged by 216 points, or 2%, to close at 10172.98, while the technology heavy Nasdaq fell by 2.6%, or 60 points, to finish at 2205.29.

The broader S&P 500 Index also sank by more than 2% to end at 1091.76.

Financial shares in both the US and Europe led the fall. Barclays dropped by 4%, while JPMorgan fell 3.4%.

Mr Obama - who said he was "ready for a fight" with banks - plans to limit their size and restrict risky trading.

"Never again will the American taxpayer be held hostage by banks that are too big to fail," Mr Obama said.

Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei also closed at a three-week low.

Politicians in the UK were quick to sign up to Mr Obama's proposals.

The Treasury said it would consider the US bank reform plans "very carefully," while City Minister Lord Myners said the US proposals were "very much in accordance with the direction we have been setting".

The government has recently focused mainly on tackling bankers' large bonuses - a source of public outcry - with a one-off "super-tax" and other measures.

Meanwhile, the Financial Services Bill is making its way through Parliament, aiming to give the Financial Services Authority more powers to regulate banking behaviour.

It would also force banks to hold more money in reserve, as well as creating a new Council for Financial Stability, which is intended to consist of Treasury, Bank of England and FSA officials.

But none of the planned legislation goes as far as what the US president has now proposed.

'Profound fear'

Shadow chancellor George Osborne said that the Conservatives would impose an identical dismantling of UK banks to what Mr Obama proposed if elected.

But he said he would want to see international agreement before implementing any change in the UK.

BBC business editor Robert Peston said Mr Osborne's comments would "generate profound fear in the boardrooms of Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland".

"Banking reforms do not come bigger than those proposed by President Obama," he added.

Other nations also backed the proposals. "I think this is a very, very good step forward," said French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde.

Limiting risk taking

"While the financial system is far stronger today than it was one year ago, it is still operating under the exact same rules that led to its near collapse," Mr Obama said.

His proposals may mean that some of the biggest US banks have to be broken up.

What this means for foreign banks working in the US is still unclear.

They also include a ban on retail banks using their own money in investments - known as proprietary trading. Instead, banks would be limited to investing their customers' funds.

The moves follow popular anger at financial institutions, who have been paying large bonuses to staff even as they accepted government bail-outs to keep them going.

Aboriginal Canadians divided over Vancouver Olympics

The Canadian city of Vancouver is gearing up to host nearly four weeks of Winter Olympic and Paralympic sporting action in February and March.

The Games, set to attract international attention, have a particular importance for Canada's aboriginal peoples, as many of the sporting events will take place on their ancestral land.

The peoples involved - the Lil'wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations - who live on and share the land, have joined forces.

Together with the Vancouver Olympic Committee (Vanoc), they will be hosting the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games in a partnership that is making Olympic history.

This is the first time that aboriginals have been official partners in the Olympics and have been involved in every aspect of the Games starting from the bidding process.

'Stolen land'

For some aboriginals, this partnership is seen as a unique opportunity for Canada's indigenous peoples to show their culture to the world.

For others, the Vancouver Olympics are a waste of money and resources that could be better spent on serious issues facing aboriginals in Canada.

Many of our community members are paying with their lives with the inadequate housing and healthcare Rose Henry Olympic Resistance Network

Canada's indigenous peoples have suffered a long history of poverty, unemployment, and problems with addiction and high rates of suicide.

Tewanee Joseph, head of the umbrella group known as the Four Host First Nations, sees the Vancouver Winter Olympics as a great time for aboriginals to rebrand themselves in a positive way.

"What people will learn is that we're business people, we're entrepreneurs, we're visual artists and we're performing artists. You know our culture is really living and thriving today and it's been through challenges," says Mr Joseph.

"We no longer want to be seen as just Dime Store Indians, just beads and feathers. I think for us those stereotypes are very important for us to break."

Despite all the potential positive attention on their culture, many of British Columbia's aboriginals still feel that the decision to hold the Olympics in Vancouver (and the resort town of Whistler) was wrong.

"A lot of First Nations considered the land to be stolen," says Josh Anderson from the Lil'wat Nation.

"Our people were actually there to watch the construction of the facilities for the Olympics just in case the lands were desecrated or disrespected in any way."

A number of First Nations continue to be concerned about how the expansion of Whistler for the Olympics is affecting their land and the environment.

'No teepees'

Despite the opposition by some of his people, Mr Anderson welcomes the arrival of the Olympic Games and intends to use the exposure as an opportunity to educate the world about his culture.

He will be teaching Lil'wat history to visitors at the new Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre in Whistler, built with provincial and federal government funding.

There are aims to bring the aboriginal culture to a wider audience

"A lot of people think that we, the Lil'wat and the Squamish, are Eskimos and that we live in igloos and that we have teepees here. We don't have teepees and we are not Eskimos," Mr Anderson says.

"We do have cold winters and we used to live in underground dwellings in pit houses. We call them istkens."

For aboriginals like Rose Henry, of Sliammon heritage, and Jayson Fleury, who is Saulteaux-Cree, the idea that Vanoc is spending C$1.7bn ($1.6bn;£1bn) on the Games is upsetting. They both belong to the Olympic Resistance Network (ORN) whose motto is "No Olympics on Stolen Native Land."

They believe that some of that money should be spent on issues like homelessness and addiction.

"If you go to Vancouver's downtown eastside, you will see that most of the homeless are First Nations people and they are from this area," says Mr Fleury. "So their rights, their livelihood are not being honoured in any fashion."

"It is costing us a lot more than just the dollars," adds Ms Henry.

"Many of our community members are paying with their lives with the inadequate housing and healthcare and so the rippling effects go beyond the 17-day party that's going to be happening here that we can't afford."

Snowboarding success

The province of British Columbia, Vanoc, and the Four Host First Nations still believe that the Olympics will have a lasting positive impact on Canada's aboriginals and have set up economic, art and sporting legacy programmes.

One fund has helped to create the First Nations snowboard team which started with 10 members and now has two 200 from 13 First Nations across British Columbia.

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Canada's Aboriginal snowboard team prepare for the games

Olympic organisers have also given C$54m of contracts to more than 100 aboriginal businesses - roughly 10% of the construction contracts worth a total of C$580m.

In central Vancouver there will also be a C$3.5m Aboriginal Pavilion, a multi-media centre displaying aboriginal art, business, culture and sport to visitors throughout the Games.

"Every venue that you go to, you will be welcomed by an aboriginal figure. Every one of the venues you go to will have aboriginal art in it," says Dan Doyle, Vanoc's executive vice president.

An aboriginal artist was also chosen to design the Olympic and Paralympic medals: Corrine Hunt, of First Nations Komoyue and Tlingit heritage.

Vancouver Games: Will it mean gold for the aboriginal peoples?

"The fact that an aboriginal person was given the opportunity to make the Olympic and the Paralympic medals I think is really important," says Ms Hunt.

"It shows the recognition that we have as a people and that we continue to live on this land."

Chief Gibby Jacob from the Squamish Nation agrees that the recent recognition of native culture is an important milestone after years of suppression by the Canadian establishment.

He took part in the start of the torch relay, helping to bring the Olympic flame to the shores of Victoria in British Columbia by canoe and performing a traditional aboriginal welcoming ceremony.

"The significance of doing our ceremonies on the water in our canoes, that was important for us to have those things recognised," Chief Jacob says.

"In the history of this country there was legislation created by the governments wherein we couldn't practice our culture, our traditions. They thought it was not right."

For many aboriginals artists, businesses and athletes the real test of the Vancouver Olympics will be if the inclusion and celebration of their cultures continue long after the Games are over.