A member of the House of Lords, who falsely claimed travel expenses for journeys he did not undertake and charged taxpayers for a business meeting, is facing a two-week suspension. The Earl of Shrewsbury, also known as Charles Henry John Benedict Crofton Chetwynd Chetwynd-Talbot, was found to have inaccurately reported driving 120 miles in January 2024 and improperly claimed £199.52 for rail fares.

Lord Shrewsbury, a former Tory whip and one of the few remaining hereditary peers, used a House of Lords credit card to purchase a rover train ticket for a meeting unrelated to his official duties. The 73-year-old wrongly filed expenses for four trips between his Derbyshire residence and Stafford railway station.

An inquiry was initiated following a report by The Guardian, which highlighted an email where the peer joked that the “government pays” for his travel. He had submitted expenses for a first-class rail ticket to attend a Cheshire Land Limited meeting, where he serves as a non-executive director.

The House of Lords Conduct Committee noted that Lord Shrewsbury acknowledged his misconduct promptly and offered to refund the amount in question after the allegations came to light. Despite his apologies, breaching financial support rules is deemed significant due to the use of public funds and its potential impact on public perception.

Commissioner for Standards Martin Jelley determined that Lord Shrewsbury deliberately used the rover ticket and displayed carelessness in his mileage claims. In correspondence with a colleague, the peer was quoted as saying, “Travelling up from London. Government pays!”

Lord Shrewsbury attributed the erroneous mileage claims to a mistake on his part, emphasizing that he failed to verify the accuracy of his submissions. Regarding the rail expenses, he clarified that the rover ticket was not used for the board meeting in Liverpool but for other segments of his journey.

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