In Britain, a second Labour MP has been suspended for claiming nonexistent mortgage payments on their expenses.

David Chaytor, MP for Bury North, says the claims totalling nearly £13,000 were an "unforgivable error" and that he would repay the money. He has already referred the case to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards

Downing Street said yesterday that Nick Brown, Labour's chief whip, decided to suspend Chaytor pending an investigation of the matter.

Chaytor also redesignated his second home five times over the last five years, allowing his expenses to be claimed on a variety of properties. He blamed his "error" on "changing and complex family circumstances". His wife, Sheena, said, "He has made a really stupid mistake. It was a mistake but I do not suppose anybody will believe that."

Labour sources have also said that plans to force any Labour MP found guilty of breaching expenses rules to step down at the next general election are likely to be debated by the party's national executive committee in the coming week.

Politicians suffered a public backlash over the MPs' expenses scandal yesterday as they went back to their constituencies after parliament's blackest week in modern times.

Ministers, backbenchers, local councillors and party workers reported a rising tide of voter anger over the damaging revelations about how MPs had milked the system.

After a surge in the number of complaints from the public, the Metropolitan Police announced that a panel of senior Scotland Yard officers and prosecutors will meet next week to decide what action to take over claims that MPs misused parliamentary expenses.

On Friday, the justice minister Shahid Malik became the first minister to lose his job since the controversy began. Although he denies any wrongdoing, Gordon Brown ordered him to step down pending an inquiry into whether he had breached the ministerial code by benefiting from a subsidised rent on his home.

A ComRes survey for the BBC found two thirds of people believe that MPs who have been "named and shamed" over their expenses should be forced to quit parliament.

Sadiq Khan, the minister responsible for community cohesion, admitted: "I am feeling bruised and battered by all of this but it is as nothing compared to the hurt, anger and betrayal the public rightly feels at the moment."

Diane Abbott, the Labour MP, raised fears over public anger. "Saying sorry isn't enough. Giving money isn't enough. The public... want to see dead MPs hanging from lamp-posts," she said.

A window was smashed at the Tory office in Bromsgrove, constituency of Julie Kirkbride, whose MP husband Andrew MacKay quit as an aide to David Cameron after admitting they had "double-claimed" the second homes allowance.