News

A court case too far

Chris Huhne has resigned from his post as energy secretary following the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to charge him with covering up a speeding offence.
Director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer, took the unusual step of making a televised statement announcing that Mr Huhne, MP for Eastleigh, is to be charged with perverting the course of justice. Cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Haywood and other senior government ministers had already indicated that Huhne would have to quit if subjected to criminal proceedings.
The charges relate to allegations that he avoided a driving ban in 2003 by making his ex wife Vicky Pryce take penalty points after being caught speeding on the M11.
Huhne was already in the headlines following his pledge to make a final appeal to the Supreme Court over last month’s High Court ruling which went against the government’s plans to reduce the Feed-in Tariff (FiT).
Both Huhne and his ex-wife will appear before magistrates on February 16.