Early decision on Devine's right to grant

A DECISION on whether disgraced former MP Jim Devine will keep a "golden goodbye" pay-off worth tens of thousands of pounds could be made by MPs as early as Monday.

There have been calls for the former Livingston MP to be stripped of the payment following his conviction for fraudulent expenses claims.

He was found guilty of falsifying his Parliamentary expenses to the tune of more than 8,000. He was granted bail and will be sentenced in four weeks. The maximum jail term is seven years.

All MPs who stand down from the House of Commons are entitled to what is called a "resettlement grant".

It is thought Devine could be entitled to around 30,000 but his grant was frozen last year by the speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, who heads the Members' Estimate Committee, which has the final decision on the grants.