More than a quarter of MPs put relatives on the payroll - at the taxpayers' expense

Scandal: Derek Conway overpaid his son out of his MP expenses More than a quarter of MPs employ family members at the taxpayer's expense, it was revealed yesterday. At least 177 MPs, including three Cabinet ministers and six ministers, admitted paying relatives out of their £90,000 staffing allowance. Ten of the MPs employ more than one family member, the official register of members' interests shows. Ian Paisley employed three relatives, including his son who is a prominent Northern Irish politician. Husband and wife Peter and Iris Robinson, also of the DUP, employ four relatives between them – two sons, a daughter and a daughter-in-law. The Tory Northern Ireland spokesman Laurence Robertson employs both his wife, from whom he is separated, and his current girlfriend. There is no suggestion that any of the MPs have broken... [read full story]