Gordon Brown today suspended ex-minister Elliot Morley from the Parliamentary Labour Party and an aide to Tory leader David Cameron quit his post, as the Westminster expenses scandal claimed its first scalps.

Mr Morley, MP for Scunthorpe, now faces expulsion from Labour ranks if charges that he wrongly claimed £16,000 in allowances for a mortgage already paid off are backed up by Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon.

The Prime Minister also suspended former fisheries minister Mr Morley from his post as the premier's climate change envoy.

Bracknell Conservative MP Andrew MacKay announced his resignation as a parliamentary aide to Mr Cameron after confessing he had made an "error of judgment" on his second homes claims.