MPs to rule on Spelman sanctions for 'nannygate'

MPs are today considering whether Tory frontbencher Caroline Spelman should be punished over the "nannygate" affair.

The Standards and Privileges Committee is due to discuss a report by Commons sleaze watchdog John Lyon.

Mrs Spelman's position has been in doubt since allegations emerged last year that she used parliamentary allowances to pay for childcare. MPs' expenses are only supposed to cover activities directly related to their jobs.

The controversy is thought to have forced David Cameron to delay a reshuffle. Last month he finally shifted Mrs Spelman from party chairman to shadow communities secretary.

The Meriden MP has insisted Tina Haynes was only paid with public funds for secretarial work between 1997 and 1998, and her nannying duties were rewarded separately with free board. But Ms Haynes said she had only posted letters, "took the odd phone call" and passed on messages "once or twice a week".

The arrangement ended after the Tory chief whip told Mrs Spelman it could be "open to misinterpretation" and she hired a new constituency secretary. Mr Lyon has been examining the case for nine months.