7.45pm: Wilshire to quit at next election. He has just issued this statement:
"The allegations made in today’s Telegraph are deeply hurtful and unjustified. However, my Constituents rightly want reassurance and the truth. This is why I have referred this to the Commissioner. I am confident that he will confirm that I have done nothing wrong. That said, I am very conscious that the allegations and investigation will cause great distress to my family and friends. These allegations also run the risk of harming my local party and our national party’s chances of winning at the next General Election. In the circumstances I have reluctantly concluded that it is sensible for me not to seek re-election next year."
5.45pm update: No news from the earlier meeting, but there is grim news for Mr Wilshire from the PoliticsHome Phi100 panel: only 5% of the cross-party panel believe he will stand as a Conservative candidate come the general election. More details here.
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1.30pm update: Sky News is reporting that Mr Wilshire has been summoned to a meeting with the party's Chief Whip, Patrick McLoughlin, later this afternoon.
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Spelthorne's Conservative MP David Wilshire faces serious questions today after the Daily Telegraph has reported this morning that he used parliamentary expenses to pay more than £100,000 of taxpayers’ money to his own company.
The paper states:
"Mr Wilshire claimed for more than three years for office assistance provided by “Moorlands Research Services”. Parliamentary expenses rules forbid MPs from entering into arrangements which “may give rise to an accusation” of profiting from public funds. But on Wednesday night, Mr Wilshire – the MP for Spelthorne in Surrey – admitted that he and his partner, Ann Palmer, were sole owners of the business."
Mr Wilshire has now referred himself to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, John Lyon, to conduct a formal inquiry into the matter.
Earlier in the summer, it emerged that a group of voters in the constituency were seeking to oust Mr Wilshire over other expenses claims.
Jonathan Isaby
