Speaking during a debate at Westminster, the SDLP leader called for an independent parliamentary standards authority to be set up to oversee the clean-up of parliament.

“Unlike some Opposition Members, I believe that the government are approaching the matter not in a blind panic, but with a clear purpose. Some Members have asked why the measure is needed, suggesting that the worst of the expenses scandal is over. We do not know that. The publication of last year’s claims is still to come and we do not know what new revelations may appear.

“It has been suggested that we can do nothing until the Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Christopher Kelly, reports. I do not accept that. If we all agree, as we say we do, about the principle of an independent parliamentary standards authority, and independent oversight, administration and management of payments and allowances, let us be mature enough to put it in place,” Mr Durkan said.