Labour MP first to be sued for 'laziness'

Health Minister Ann Keen has been taken to court over allegations that she failed to exercise her duty to help a war veteran clear his name after a miscarriage of justice 47 years ago.

John Taylor, 84, claims he wrote more than 100 letters to his MP asking her to help him get compensation for his wrongful conviction of stealing £17 in 1962 - a conviction which saw him serve three years in prison. The conviction came after three men brought a stolen safe to the flat where he was sleeping, but it was quashed in 1998.

Mr Taylor, who was badly wounded while fighting in Holland during the Second World War, alleges his MP failed to act beyond writing to the Justice Secretary Baroness Scotland about his case four years ago.

She denies the allegation, insisting she "repeatedly made representations" on Mr Taylor's behalf and sent acknowledgements to his letters.

Legal experts say the case, which is being heard at Brentford County Court, is the first of an MP facing action for breaching their "duty of care" to a constituent.

While MPs have no statutory obligation to voters, the Commons code of conduct says they have a "general duty to act in the interests of the nation as a whole and a special duty to their constituents"...

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