The father of disgraced Somerset MP David Laws has spoken of his embarrassment at his estranged son's departure from the Cabinet after an expenses scandal broke just days into the Coalition Government.
Tony Laws, who has not spoken to his son for 15 years, also said the newly-appointed Education Minister was lucky to avoid jail after he admitted wrongly pocketing more than £50,000 in a claim involving his secret gay lover.
The MP for Yeovil was hand-picked by David Cameron to play a major role in reducing the country's £156 billion deficit, but resigned in 2010 as Chief Secretary to the Treasury after only 17 days, making history as the shortest-serving Cabinet minister in modern times.
The 46-year-old began his frontbench rehabilitation last month when the Prime Minister recalled him to the fold in a ministerial reshuffle.
Many in Westminster think he was lucky to be given a second chance so soon after the Parliamentary Standards and Privileges Committee accused him of a "series of serious breaches of the rules over a considerable period of time".
The Daily Mail said his father Tony Laws, a retired City banker who lives in Axminster, East Devon, contacted the paper last week because he wanted to dispute several claims made by his son about his family as he attempted to explain the background to his expenses fiddle.
In an interview, he said: "I was embarrassed my son had been caught taking money he was not entitled to.
"I think David was damn lucky that further action wasn't taken against him, as I know some MPs went to prison."
On his son's return to government, he added: "I'm pleased for him, but I think he has gone back too soon.
"He should have waited until after the general election to let his constituents deliver their verdict on what he did – I am sure he would be forgiven."
The MP's father is also angry his son had sought to make political capital at the expense of opponents engulfed in the scandal, such as Dorset Tory MP Oliver Letwin.
He said he had no problem with his son's sexuality, adding: "There was no row, no major fallout, I just think David lost interest in me as his dad. We haven't spoken for the best part of 15 years – even though he lives only eight miles away."