List of office staff and calls for spot check audits on MPs' offices

8.08.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 1st Feb 2008

Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg has published details of the staff working at his offices, and urged the party's other MPs to do so too. Gordon Brown is also to tell Labour MPs to publicly declare any family members they employ as Conservative leader David Cameron admitted that more than 70 Tory MPs employ members of their family on their staff. The moves come after disgraced Tory MP Derek Conway was suspended from parliament for ten days yesterday over excessive payments to his son at taxpayers' expense.

Nick Clegg said "The time has come for MPs of all parties to meet the high standards of transparency that people expect of them. To improve public faith in the system there should be a limit of only one family member being allowed to work in an MP's office. We should accept proposals for the limit for expenses claims without a receipt to be reduced from £250 to £50, and there should be spot checks by auditors on MPs' offices. Unless all parties take action public perception of politicians will worsen. It's time for Westminster to accept it needs to move out of the 19th Century and into the 21st."

Local Lib Dem Councillor Gordon Seekings said "Having worked a few years ago in the House of Commons for a Lib Dem MP this seems to me to be the minimum requirement. I would, of course, like to see our own Crawley MP, Laura Moffatt do exactly the same as well."