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Lord Swaraj Paul, two other Asian peers suspended from House of Lords | Labour peers Lord Swaraj Paul, Lady Uddin, and crossbencher Lord Bhatia were suspended from the House of
Lords here on Thursday for allegedly cheating the taxpayer out of tens of thousands of pounds in wrongly claimed expenses. The three Asian peers were suspended after
the upper chamber approved the damning judgments of its privileges and conduct
committee. The committee found that Swaraj Paul, a steel magnate and one of Britain's
wealthiest men, lived in London but designated a one-bedroom flat in an Oxfordshire
hotel that he owned as his main home. However, the Committee observed that Lady
Uddin claimed more than 100,000 pounds between 2005 and 2010 by stating that her
main residence was a small flat in Maidstone, Kent, rather than her family home
in east London. Lord Bhatia had claimed 27,446 pounds in expenses on the basis
that his main home was a small flat occupied by his brother in Reigate, Surrey,
even though he and his wife were listed on the electoral roll at their long-standing
address in Hampton, south-west London. The Lords Conduct and Privileges Committee
recommended that Lady Uddin, who has failed to apologise or repay 125,000 pounds
in illegitimately claimed expenses, be barred from Parliament until April 2012
- the harshest punishment handed out to a peer since the 17th century. Lord Bhatia,
who has repaid 27,000 pounds, was suspended for eight months, and Lord Paul, who
returned 42,000 pounds, for four months, The Telegraph reports. The Committee
ruled that Lady Uddin and Lord Bhatia had not acted in good faith, but that while
Lord Paul, one of the richest men in the country, was "grossly irresponsible and
negligent," but he had not been "dishonest". All three also claimed travel expenses.
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