Labour plots to keep MPs' allowances secret | Smith and Blears face the axe | Cameron apologises as Tories deny 'flipping' | Peter Riddell: no defence | William Rees-Mogg: We need a new Parliament | Libby Purves: what happened to personal honour?

Gordon Brown today tried to apply the brakes to the parliamentary expenses scandal, offering a public apology on behalf of MPs from all parties.

As senior MPs met to discuss how to salvage Parliament’s battered reputation, amid a fresh row about a proposal to hand the job of checking MPs' expenses over to a private company, the Prime Minister admitted that "mistakes" had been made by politicians making inappropriate allowances claims.

Some MPs have profited by tens of thousands of pounds by manipulating their taxpayer-funded second homes allowance, it has been reported, and the Commons fees office has been deluged with penny-pinching claims for items including dog food, light bulbs, mock Tudor beams and a lawnmower.

"I want to apologise on behalf of politicians, on behalf of all parties for what has happened in the events of the last few days," said Mr Brown in a speech to the Royal College of Nursing annual conference in Harrogate.

"We must show that, where mistakes have been made and errors have been discovered, where wrongs have to be righted, that it is done so immediately."

Mr Brown said that it was essential to rebuild public trust in politics. Soon afterwards, Downing St made plain that Mr Brown meant to kill off a plan to exempt MPs receipts from being published in future.

The Times disclosed today that Sir Stuart Bell, Labour's representative on the committee which runs the Commons, wanted to push through a plan to privatise the 'fees office' because he believed it would shield receipts from the Freedom of Information Act.

Sir Stuart's plan is understood to have the backing of the Labour whips office who detest the release of expense data. But this morning Downing Street made clear it would not happen.

"I think the Prime Minister’s view is that there needs to be tougher auditing but this should not be at the expense of transparency," Mr Brown’s spokesman said.

Mr Brown also appeared to be hoping to prevent the scandal from claiming scalps within the Cabinet.

Hazel Blears and Jacqui Smith were both said to be vulnerable, but the No 10 spokesman said that the Prime Minister had been satisfied with the explanations given by Labour ministers for their expenses claims.

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