Mr Clegg said MPs resigning over expenses should not get a large pay off

MPs who stand down after expenses revelations should not be entitled to large tax free pay-offs, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has said.

Since stories about expenses claims began, 13 MPs have said they will stand down at the election, although three say they are going for health reasons.

They will be entitled to a pay-off worth up to a year's salary of £64,000 depending on their age and experience.

Mr Clegg said there was "no reason" some should get the tax free reward.

Under current rules, Conservative MP Julie Kirkbride could receive a pay off of about £32,000 while Labour's Margaret Moran could get £54,000 - by way of the "resettlement grant" which is only paid to MPs who leave at a general election.

Dry rot

On Thursday both women announced their intention to step down at the next general election - Ms Kirkbride had faced a series of allegations.

She and her husband - the Tory MP Andrew MacKay - had both claimed for a second home. He had already announced his intention to quit.

ESTIMATED PAY-OFFS Ben Chapman: £36,269 Derek Conway: £64,766 Christopher Fraser: £32,383 Douglas Hogg: £59,585 Julie Kirkbride: £32,383 Andrew MacKay: £64,766 Ian McCartney: £64,766 Margaret Moran: £54, 403 Anthony Steen: £32,383 Peter Viggers: £32,383 Ann Winterton: £38, 860 Nicholas Winterton: £32,383 Source: BBC estimates for resettlement grants, based on length of service and age The great Commons clearout MP Cash 'not intending to quit' MPs Kirkbride and Moran to quit MPs' golden goodbyes

Ms Moran was under fire for claiming £22,000 to deal with dry rot at a home that was neither in London, nor her constituency.

The resettlement grant varies between MPs as it is based on years of service and age.

According to the Ministry of Justice the current cost of the alternative - a by election should an MP stand down - is £70,000 - £80,000, depending on the size of the constituency.

Mr Clegg, who has also called for voters to be able to sack their MP, said: "I can see no reason why an MP who is sacked or decides to stand down should be rewarded with a big, tax-free, lump sum payment.

"This money is intended to help people who are suddenly voted out of office," he said.

"Anyone else who decides to quit their job of their own accord can make arrangements for themselves. MPs should get a leaving card, not a cheque for tens of thousands of pounds."

Ms Moran said she had done nothing "wrong or dishonest" in her claims - she has repaid the money and has always said she stuck to the rules and had it cleared with the Commons fees office.

Ms Kirkbride said until the row blew up it had not occurred to her she had done anything wrong but said she wanted the Conservatives to have a "great result" at the next election and had to take into account "the effects on my family" of all the media coverage.

Mr Clegg called for the "total reinvention of British politics"

MPs should be blocked from taking their summer holidays until they agree sweeping changes at Westminster, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has urged.

Writing in the Guardian, Mr Clegg called for radical reform of members' expenses, party funding and the electoral system within 100 days.

His intervention comes in the wake of the prolonged row over MPs' allowances.

Mr Clegg said politicians should "bar the gates" at Westminster "until the crisis has been sorted out".

The proposal follows weeks of revelations in the Daily Telegraph, which has obtained details of all MPs expenses over a four-year period.

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In the wake of fresh reports, Tory MP Sir John Butterfill has agreed to repay £20,000 in tax and mortgage payments, much of which was claimed from public funds towards staff quarters in his home.

And under-pressure Bromsgrove MP Julie Kirkbride has also defended her decision to re-mortgage her second home by £50,000 to fund an extension.

Greater powers

In Mr Clegg's article, he argued that the moment for change would be lost if MPs left for the summer recess without having pushed through fundamental reforms.

He set out his plan to achieve the "total reinvention of British politics" through agreements on party funding and constitutional change.

Mr Clegg said that in the first fortnight, MPs would agree to accept whatever reforms to expenses were brought forward by the standards watchdog Sir Christopher Kelly, draw up legislation allowing for the recall of errant members and impose a £50,000 cap on individual donations to parties.

This is a dangerous time for British politics and British democracy and the mainstream parties have got to show that we get it Nick Clegg Lib Dem leader MP to repay 'staff quarters' cash Kirkbride prepares to face voters Cameron in 'people power' pledge

By week three a bill would be passed to introduced four-year fixed term parliaments from 2010.

Before the end of the next week, the the Speaker would introduce a series of changes to Commons procedure, such as giving MPs greater powers of scrutiny and subjecting ministers to confirmation hearings.

In weeks four and five the Commons would pass legislation allowing a referendum on electoral reform, and by weeks six and seven parliament would vote to replace the House of Lords with an elected upper chamber.

Mr Clegg also criticised Conservative leader David Cameron's remarks that he was giving "serious consideration" to fixed term parliaments.

In a speech, Mr Cameron said a Tory government would restore "real people power" through a "radical" redistribution of power from Westminster.

But the Lib Dem leader said Mr Cameron, who ruled out proportional representation, had merely offered "verbal cover for maintaining the status quo".

Mr Clegg insisted that the crisis was about more than MPs' pay and expenses.

He added: "It's about a political system and political culture that has become too much of a gentlemen's club.

"This is a dangerous time for British politics and British democracy and the mainstream parties have got to show that we get it."

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg says he wants a system of petitions to be brought in so MPs who break the rules can be axed without having to wait for an election.

Mr Clegg said if an MP was found to have done something "seriously wrong" a petition signed by 5% of constituents should be able to prompt a by-election.

He told the BBC's Politics Show that he also wanted further reform of the House of Lords and political party funding.

But he rejected calls to pay back the £2.4m Michael Brown donation.

If I'd have known then what I know now, of course we wouldn't have accepted a single penny… but I don't think we've got £2.4m lying around to give back to anyone Nick Clegg Lib Dem leader Cameron reopens Tory hopeful list

Mr Clegg said the petitions were needed for cases like that of Derek Conway, who was able to stay as an MP despite being suspended from Parliament and kicked out of the Conservative Party.

"It seems to me, at least in that situation, where someone has been proven to do something seriously wrong, that people should be able to sack their MP."

Mr Clegg said the revelations about MP expenses were just "the tip of the iceberg" of things relating to money and politics that had to be sorted out.

He said Labour were bankrolled by a few trade union chiefs and the Conservatives "in large part by people who don't even pay full taxes in this country", and "we (the Lib Dems) have our own problem with one major dodgy donor".

The Lib Dem donor he referred to was Michael Brown, a bogus international bonds dealer who is on the run, who became the biggest donor to the party ahead of the 2005 general election.

Casting aspersions

Since then he has been convicted in his absence of stealing more than £30m from people including ex-Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards.

Some of those who lost money invested with Mr Brown want the Liberal Democrats to repay the money.

In 2006 the Electoral Commission said they believed that at the time, ahead of the 2005 election, it was "reasonable" for the party to regard his donation as "permissible".

When MPs knowingly exploited the expenses system for profit, they knew they were doing that at the time Nick Clegg Lib Dem leader

But the BBC understands that the Electoral Commission has now resumed its inquiry into the permissibility of those donations and could require the party to forfeit the donations.

Asked how he could "morally justify" keeping the money , Mr Clegg said: "We took every single step to confirm whether he was eligible... Later we discovered the guy was a crook.

"If I'd have known then what I know now, of course we wouldn't have accepted a single penny… but I don't think we've got £2.4m lying around to give back to anyone."

Mr Clegg denied there was a similarity between his argument and the argument made by MPs refusing to pay back expense claims because they followed "the rules".

He said: "When MPs knowingly exploited the expenses system for profit, they knew they were doing that at the time.

"What we did was we took money from a donor, took every reasonable check, this has been recognised by the Electoral Commission that we took that money in good faith... you're casting aspersions, very unfairly on the checks that we took at the time in to Michael Brown."

Alun Michael addressing the media outside a polling station in 1999 Assembly huge Labour own goal?

Ten years after the first election to the Welsh assembly, its first leader says it has not "punched above its weight" on the economy and education.

But Alun Michael, who was Labour first secretary for nine months from May 1999, said there had been successes and he was optimistic for the future.

Former Plaid Cymru leader Dafydd Wigley said the assembly had come of age, with an increase in voters' confidence.

Tories said they had spent the decade "trying to make devolution work".

Although Labour emerged as the largest party after the 1999 election, its vote had declined dramatically since the 1997 general election.

Under a system of proportional representation it won just 28 of the 60 assembly seats, rather than the majority that had been expected.

The Welsh dimension, the national dimension in Wales, has become a reality that people accept Dafydd Wigley

Turbulent times followed, with Mr Michael eventually resigning as first secretary before a confidence vote tabled by opposition parties was voted on.

He was replaced by Rhodri Morgan, who formed a coalition administration with the Liberal Democrats to bring some stability to the fledgling assembly.

Mr Michael described the assembly's early phase as "pretty damn hard" for both him and Mr Morgan.

Both men had been left to "pick up the pieces", said Mr Michael, after the resignation of their predecessor Ron Davies after his so-called moment of madness on Clapham Common.

He said there had been "real successes" since then, including the creation of commissioners for children and older people and work in committees.

"But we're not punching above our weight compared to the English regions on things like economic development and particularly further and higher education," Mr Michael said.

Our criticism has been towards the policies of the Welsh Assembly Government, not the assembly itself Nick Bourne, Welsh Conservative leader

"Although it is very clear that the ministers dealing with those issues now have recognised where those weaknesses are."

"It is very important, I think, that having got to the point where the assembly is now settled and people accept and support it, that we make sure that the second decade is the decade in which the assembly really punches above its weight in terms of delivering for the people of Wales."

However, First Minister Rhodri Morgan said the introduction of the Foundation Phase, a Scandinavian learn through play curriculum which was rolled out across Wales in September 2008, was one of the "proudest days" in the assembly's first 10 years.

"That was in our first manifesto in 1999 that Alun and I stood on and now we have rolled it out," he said.

"It is a big step for a small country like Wales to make a break with 125 years of British education tradition but we have done it."

Whilst nothing has quite matched the high drama of Mr Michael's departure in February 2000, few politicians would argue that the assembly's existence has not changed the Welsh nation.

It has made a "significant difference", according to Mr Wigley.

"We have to remember that in the referendum in 1997 only 26% of the electorate in Wales voted yes," he said.

"Therefore the assembly had an uphill struggle to win its own patch, if you like.

"By now only 11% of the electorate want to disband the assembly - in other words it has come of age.

"And the Welsh dimension, the national dimension in Wales, has become a reality that people accept," Mr Wigley added.

'Making devolution work'

Current Welsh Conservative leader Nick Bourne, who took over leading the party's assembly group within months of the 1999 election, described the assembly as an "important tool in providing an accessible, democratic forum for the people of Wales".

"Our criticism in that time has been towards the policies of the Welsh Assembly Government, not the assembly itself," he said.

Since 1999 Labour has always been in the assembly government cabinet, either on its own or in coalition, currently with Plaid and previously with the Lib Dems.

"The argument is no longer about whether we want devolution," said Mr Bourne.

"It is about how we make devolution work so it delivers for the people of Wales."

Mike German, who stepped down as leader of the Welsh Lib Dems last December, said politics in Wales was now an "entirely different animal" with "big differences to the political landscape".

"We've now got a realisation that no one party is in control.

"The voting system that we've got means that we're never going to get absolute majorities for everyone."

"More often than not we've had a coalition or a minority government... and it has meant that everybody has been able to play with a lot of power on the political stage.

"People will try and find solutions, less than try and find aggression.

"It doesn't always work like that but there is an element of people trying to find working solutions together."

Lord Ashdown discussed forming a coalition with Labour in the past

Senior Labour MPs have discussed defecting to the Liberal Democrats if the party loses the election, Lord Ashdown has said.

In a Daily Telegraph interview, the former Lib Dem leader indicated some in Labour were concerned about a lurch to the left in the event of a poll defeat.

The current leader of the Lib Dems, Nick Clegg, has said he was not involved in any secret discussions.

Labour sources say talk of defections rather than discontent is overblown.

BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said it is known that some prominent Labour MPs are unhappy with the direction the party is taking.

It comes amid mounting criticism of the prime minister's performance on issues such as Gurkha settlement rights and MPs' expenses, with opposition parties claiming his authority has been fatally undermined.

'No deals'

When Lord Ashdown was leader of the Liberal Democrats he discussed forming a coalition with Labour under Tony Blair but the plans were never put into practice.

If you have been a minister and had a reasonably high-octane job and then you find yourself out of government then you might look around and think the caravan has moved on Former minister Chris Mullin Labour MP rejects 'exodus' talk

Now he has told the Daily Telegraph that the conditions could be in place for defections to the Lib Dems after the next election.

However, Lord Ashdown has kept the identities of his Labour confidants secret.

A spokeswoman for Mr Clegg told the BBC he was not involved in any secret discussions or secret deals with politicians from other parties.

But she said he was happy to work openly with MPs from all parties on issues of "moral importance" such as improving the rights of the Gurkhas.

This week MPs voted by 267 to 246 in favour of a Lib Dem motion offering all Gurkhas equal right of residence, with the Tories and 27 Labour rebels backing it.