British prosecutors now considering charges against 6 UK lawmakers over expenses scandal

UK: Charges against more lawmakers possible

LONDON — Police say the number of British lawmakers who could face criminal charges over the expenses they claimed from the public purse has risen to six.

Prosecutors said last month they were considering charges against four lawmakers who spent lavishly at the taxpayers’ expense.

Police said Wednesday that another two files have been handed over the prosecutors for consideration. None of the lawmakers involved has been identified.

Revelations that parliamentarians manipulated expense rules to spend freely on home improvements and other perks outraged voters struggling through Britain’s worse recession in decades.

The scandal badly dented confidence in British politics and briefly threatened to topple Prime Minister Gordon Brown.