Mr Cohen is stepping down at the election Labour MP Harry Cohen is being investigated by the police over his expenses claims, the BBC understands.Mr Cohen, who is standing down at the election, was stripped of a £65,000 pay-off for retiring MPs after a "serious" breach of expenses rules. The BBC's Daniel Sandford said no file on the Leyton and Wanstead MP had been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service. It comes as three Labour MPs and one Tory peer charged over their expenses claims are due to appear in court. All four - Labour MPs Elliot Morley, Jim Devine, David Chaytor and Tory peer Lord Hanningfield - deny the allegations and say they will defend themselves "robustly". The police have not confirmed Mr Cohen is being investigated as part of its almost 10-month inquiry into expenses claimed by Parliamentarians and it is not known what the inquiry relates to or what stage it is at. They have said only that a "small number of cases remain subject to consideration by a joint Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service assessment panel or are subject to continuing investigation".[Read more...]