Speaking following the controversial Commons vote of MPs’ expenses, SNP Work and Pensions spokesperson, John Mason MP, has repeated SNP calls for Westminster to use the Scottish Parliament allowances scheme as a model for reform.

Mr Mason, the MP for Glasgow East, said: "MPs’ allowances should have been overhauled years ago, and frankly any reforms should not be decided by the MPs or Ministers who have abused the system. MPs’ expenses should not be decided by MPs full stop.

"Westminster should follow the open, transparent and reformed system operated in the Scottish Parliament.

"When the Scottish Parliament moved to total transparency, two things happened - the scandals and the embarrassments stopped because information was volunteered and everybody behaved themselves because they knew it was going to be published every three months.

"This is easy - there's a working model of how to solve this issue in Scotland at the present moment. Westminster should adopt it."