LONDON—Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said on Friday that MPs' expenses should be overhauled after police ruled out any investigation into disgraced Conservative MP Derek Conway.
Conway was suspended from parliament for 10 days after paying his son nearly 40,000 pounds of public money for research, despite failing to provide evidence of any work.
House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin has promised a "root and branch" inquiry into expenses after the case sparked a wave of criticism of members of parliament.
"The public have the right to expect that their money is being properly accounted for," Clegg said. "The Speaker's review of expenses must provide the basis for fundamental changes to the system of MPs' allowances."
Conway, the member for Old Bexley and Sidcup, had faced the possibility of a criminal investigation after parliament's standards watchdog referred the case to police.
Scotland Yard said on Thursday it would not pursue the matter because the Crown Prosecution Service warned that poor record keeping meant it would be hard to build a case.
"The CPS advised us that they are of the view that the lack of systems in this case to account for MPs' expenses would severely undermine the viability of any criminal investigation leading to a prosecution," a spokesman said.
"In these circumstances we do not believe that it is appropriate for a police investigation to be instigated."
Conway was suspended for paying his son Frederick almost 12,000 pounds a year, plus bonuses, over almost three years, drawing the money from his publicly funded allowance.
The Commons Standards and Privileges Committee found that Frederick had been "all but invisible" from parliament. His father has denied any wrongdoing.
The committee said Conway's behaviour was "at the least an improper use of parliamentary allowances; at worst, it was a serious diversion of public funds".
After the police ruled out an investigation, the committee's Chairman Sir George Young said Conway had already been punished.
"(His) political career has in effect been brought to an end," he told BBC radio. "He has been dealt with quite severely."
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