“The words “acting as such” plainly mean acting in the discharge of the duties of the office… Misconduct in public office bites on breaches of duties, which constituted the offence itself… the offence will only be made out if the manner in which the specific powers or duties of the office are discharged brings the misconduct within its ambit. Consequently, at the time of the alleged misconduct the individual must be acting as, not simply whilst, a public official… No authority was shown to us suggesting that the offence can be or has been equated to bringing an office into disrepute or misusing a platform outside the scope of the office.”
I imagine its fairly hard to make the case they were acting as MPs while making the bets instead of merely acting while being MPs. The gambling offences seem much more likely to stick.
This seems to be the key bit
I imagine its fairly hard to make the case they were acting as MPs while making the bets instead of merely acting while being MPs. The gambling offences seem much more likely to stick.