MPs face shake-up on mortgage claims

MPs will no longer be able to claim mortgage interest and will instead only be able to claim rent based on a one-bedroom flat, while first class train travel will also be banned as part of reforms to be introduced in the next Parliament.

The chairman of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Sir Ian Kennedy, said the measures were "fair, workable and transparent".

But he faced criticism for insisting that MPs should still be allowed to employ one spouse or other family member because they often provided "good value for money".

The move came after intense lobbying from MPs, but last night the man who proposed a total ban on employing family members – the chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Sir Christopher Kelly – said he still believed a complete ban was necessary.

Sir Christopher said: "We heard the same arguments and reached the conclusion that ending this practice was necessary to ensure the system was free from the suspicion of abuse. We still take the same view."

The chief executive of the TaxPayers Alliance pressure group, Matthew Elliott, said it was "unbelievable" that the employment of family members was being allowed to continue. Commons Speaker John Bercow has also favoured a complete ban.

But Sir Ian insisted there was only evidence of abuse in a few cases and said he had taken account of opinion from "across the board".

"As regards fairness, we could not see why there should not be employment of somebody who was a family member," he said.

The reforms will also prevent 128 MPs whose constituencies are within 20 miles of Westminster or a 60-minute commute by public transport from claiming any accommodation expenses.

Maximum accommodation and constituency office costs each year will be cut from 56,915 to 40,957 for MPs outside the London area and from 40,192 to 26,915 for those in and around the capital.