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Solution sought over MPs' expenses

Speaker Michael Martin has said an "effective and acceptable solution" is urgently required over concerns about MPs' expenses and allowances.He also stressed that the matter must be determined by the House of Commons itself.He was speaking ahead of a meeting of the cross-party Members' Estimates Committee (MEC) which has been convened amid a string of controversies over the use of taxpayer-funded allowances.The move follows last week's ten-day expulsion from the Commons of MP Derek Conway after he was censured by a watchdog for employing his son Freddie as a researcher.He paid him almost £50,000 of public money while he was a full-time student in Newcastle.In a brief Commons statement, Mr Martin said: "We must take fully into account the public interest in transparency. At this afternoon's meeting of the MEC we will be discussing urgently how to proceed on these matters."He added: "The subject of Members' allowances is something the House itself must determine."But it is clear the committee must find an effective and acceptable solution as quickly as is practicable."Mr Martin said he would write to every MP after the meeting with an update.The MEC will discuss proposals for the National Audit Office to carry out spot checks on claims and suggestions for a full register of MPs' parliamentary staff or even a ban on the recruitment of relatives to posts paid from the public purse.© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

ITN | February 4, 2008Watch more videos from ITN

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