Ban on family jobs urged for MPs

He said the ban was necessary because of the "collateral damage" suffered by Parliament from the crisis and dismissed as "nonsense on stilts" claims the new expenses watchdog was about to abandon the clampdown.

Mr Bercow also warned expenses repayments should not be kept secret after it was revealed dozens of MPs had repaid money without it being publicised by Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon.

He admitted he had not been aware of the "rectification procedure" – where repayments are kept quiet if MPs accept they inadvertently broke rules and apologise – but said he would speak to Mr Lyon and urged "greater transparency" in a bid to restore the reputation of parliament.

Addressing political reporters in Westminster, Mr Bercow also revealed the first civil partnership in Parliament – expected to be Europe Minister Chris Bryant and his partner Jared Cranney – could take place within months after an application for a licence to hold the ceremony was lodged with Westminster City Council. Parliament is also set to open its first creche in an attempt to become more family-friendly.

Mr Bercow, who was elected Speaker last year on a platform to clean up Parliament, pulled no punches when it came to addressing the thorny issue of MPs' expenses.

He said it was "nonsense" to blame the media for the crisis, and said revelations of abuses "brought to an end something which should never have been allowed to exist in the first place".

"The expenses arrangements were an unexploded bomb which the House itself should have defused and not waited for others to detonate," he said.

Although continued coverage may at times appear to be "dancing on the grave of that through whose heart it first drove a stake", he said in the longer term "the House of Commons should come to recognise that what occurred was a mercy killing".

He dismissed suggestions that a consultation paper by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) argued against the ban on MPs employing family members, a measure included in the reform proposals drawn up by the chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Sir Christopher Kelly.

The Ipsa consultation paper said that on the basis of very strong views expressed on the issue "we feel it is right to allow an opportunity to hear considered views on whether prohibiting the employment of family members is necessary and proportionate". Several Yorkshire MPs including Caroline Flint have spoken out against a ban.

Mr Bercow, however, said that it was "absolute nonsense on stilts to suggest that the IPSA document is encouraging a move away from the ban".

He also suggested Sir John Lyon was wrong to allow MPs to repay in private, saying it should be a matter of public record. Use of the procedure has increased as more attention was focused on expense claims.