The public could start to see Westminster as a "dictatorship" if parliament does not get its house in order on sleaze, the Commons speaker has suggested.
On Tuesday Lindsay Hoyle was asked whether the damage to parliament could become irreparable and replied: "Well, if we haven't got democracy, we're a dictatorship. And that's one thing that we are not going to become.
"That's why it's my job and duty to protect Parliament, and to protect it to ensure the rights of MPs. And I'm there to stand up for them. And to make sure that we do the right things, that's what I have been elected for."
Asked on Times Radio's Drive programme what would happen if he failed, Mr Hoyle said: "Well, we don't have a democracy so we can't fail. We mustn't fail and will not fail."
His comments come after a string of revelations about MPs' second jobs, including the resignation of former cabinet minister Owen Paterson over a lobbying scandal.
The government responded to the scandal by trying to abolish a standards watchdog, before U-turning on the plan following a backlash and boycott by opposition parties.
The episode was followed by further revelations, including that another former Cabinet minister Geoffrey Cox had voted while doing a £1 million second job on a Caribbean island tax haven.
