MEMBERS of parliament may have to reveal the names of lovers and illegitimate children they employ under plans to stop the abuse of Commons expenses.

A proposal being drawn up by the Commons authorities will require MPs not only to reveal if they hire their children, wives and husbands, but to name any other staff members with whom they have an intimate or blood relationship.

MPs have previously been caught offering parliamentary passes to former rent boys and ex-lovers.

The register is open to public view and the amended version could prove particularly interesting to MPs’ spouses.

Earlier this month, the standards and privileges committee announced that a new column in the House of Commons register of interests would be introduced, where MPs would have to disclose if they employed members of their family.

Commons staff now believe that, to restore public confidence, the definition of family needs to be extended.

Clive Betts, the Labour MP for Sheffield Attercliffe, was suspended from the Commons after he applied for a parliamentary pass for his ex-lover, Jose Gasparo, a Brazilian former male escort who worked briefly in his office.

Those writing the report, to be completed within weeks, say that restricting the definition of family to spouses and children born in wedlock will not do enough to put a lid on a wave of scandals.

Although the civil partners of gay MPs are likely to be included in the definition, they believe that the definition of “partner” is now so broad as to be exceedingly complex. “It’s a minefield. Is a relationship one night or two nights?” said one figure involved in drawing up the proposals. “Do we need to include former lovers, or their children? We need a definition of anyone who is not being employed on the normal arm’s-length basis. The problem is, we could end up with MPs having to name undisclosed children.”

The proposals will be completed before Easter but may not be voted on by MPs until later this year.

They will also have to say if they hire their parents. Peter Hain, the former work and pensions secretary, employs his 81-year-old mother part-time for secretarial work. She has a Commons pass.

Bob Spink, the Conservative MP for Castle Point, Essex, hires his former wife, Janet, whom he divorced in 2002, and Ashleigh Sharp, the daughter of his former girlfriend Gail Boland. The Buckingham University student has been Spink’s parliamentary assistant since 2006, when she was enrolled in a sixth-form college in Benfleet, Essex, at the age of 17.

However, MPs who hire secretaries and then have affairs with them will probably be exempt from having to make retrospective entries. Lord Parkinson had a child with his secretary; the late Robin Cook married his after their affair was discovered.

The proposals will be seen by some as a threat to the authority of Michael Martin, the Speaker, who announced a root and branch review of parliamentary allowances earlier this year.

Times Recommends

• One case exposes grim reality for thousands
• A glass case: Prince who yearns for action
• Elizabeth Gaskell: I won’t see out the year