By Jim Drury
London - Four British legislators pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges of false accounting over their parliamentary expenses, an issue that has tarnished the image of major parties with an election only weeks away.
The case is the first criminal prosecution stemming from a wider scandal that erupted last year over politicians' expenses. The affair has angered voters and tainted both the ruling Labour Party and the opposition Conservatives.
The four are Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine, who are Labour members of the lower House of Commons, and Paul White, known as Lord Hanningfield, a Conservative member of the upper House of Lords.
After a brief appearance at Westminster Magistrates' Court, a short distance from parliament, all four were released on unconditional bail and ordered to appear before a higher court on March 30.
Britain is expected to hold a general election on May 6 and latest polls show the result could be inconclusive, with neither of the two main parties winning an outright majority.
The expenses scandal makes the election outcome even harder to call, with smaller fringe parties and independent candidates expected to pick up votes from disgruntled Britons.
Labour has barred former minister Morley, Chaytor and Devine from running for new terms. White has resigned as the Conservative party's business spokesman in the Lords and been suspended as a member of the party's group in the upper chamber. - Reuters