Sinn Féin 'entitled to House of Commons cash'

Sinn Féin House of Commons allowances worth almost half a million pounds are a democratic right, a senior member of the party insisted today.

As MPs prepared to debate whether the allowances which were withdrawn last March because of IRA activity should be restored, Sinn Féin MP Conor Murphy dismissed claims that he and his colleagues should not receive the payments because they do not sit in the chamber at Westminster.