Peer let off repaying £4,000

A peer is being let off repaying more than £4,000 in expenses that she was found to have misclaimed.

The Commons Commission has signalled that Baroness Adams's disputed debt will be written off because it is too difficult to make her hand the money back.

The review, carried out by Sir Thomas Legg in the wake of the expenses scandal, decided that the Labour politician had not provided adequate proof for £4,110 of spending on mortgage interest. But Baroness Adams of Craigielea, who was MP for Paisley North before joining the Lords in 2005, insisted that the claims were valid.

She warned she would fight the parliamentary authorities through the courts rather than repay.

There had been speculation that an attempt could be made to recoup the debt from Lady Adams's attendance allowance or pension.

But the Commission effectively admitted defeat at a meeting on Monday night.