Lord Taylor pleads not guilty to expenses fraud charges
A former Conservative peer has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges over his expenses claims.
Lord Taylor of Warwick was charged in July with six counts of false accounting in relation to allegedly making dishonest claims for £24,300 in subsistence costs.
Lord Taylor, who joined the Lords in 1996, resigned the Conservative Party whip soon after being charged.
He is one of six parliamentarians to face fraud charges over their expenses.
Three former Labour MPs - Eliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine - current Labour MP Eric Illsley and Conservative peer Lord Hanningfield have also been charged with offences under the Theft Act.
They have all proclaimed their innocence and said they would fight the charges.
Lord Taylor entered the not guilty plea at Southwark Crown Court.
A practising barrister, Lord Taylor worked as an adviser to Home Office ministers in the 1980s and 1990s.
He narrowly failed to be elected to Parliament in 1992 when he lost the Cheltenham seat to the Liberal Democrats.