MP's expenses: Commons rules protected Denis MacShane

Former minister Denis MacShane could not be prosecuted because House of Commons rules prevented his letters being used against him, it has emerged.

Mr MacShane, the MP for Rotherham, quit on Friday after it was revealed he had wrongfully claimed £7,500 in expenses.

A Parliamentary committee found he had submitted 19 false invoices which were "plainly intended to deceive".

However, letters in which he admitted expense abuses are not legally admissible, as BBC political correspondent Alan Soady explains.