A German MEP is asking her colleagues to stop employing their husbands and wives, citing a conflict of interests.
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I'm a hardworking member," she says.
Her proposal is expected to split MEPs, although it is unlikely to be approved.
British Labour group leader Gary Titley, who employs his wife, says the key is transparency: "They have to be doing a job and have to be qualified."
For a number of British MEPs, the practice evolved because of the need to run a political office at home, out of normal office hours.
Mr Titley says his wife Charo is a qualified trilingual secretary and her pay is based on Labour party rates.
"She brings all my paperwork home on a Friday and works from home when I need her working from home. For most people, it's somebody you can trust."
But the idea of paying a family member a salary is anathema to German politicians.
"My whole family is working for me, but in public we cannot justify paying our family members," says Ms Graessle.
She is surprised that her British colleagues see the issue differently when normally they are so strict on financial mismanagement.
(BBC)
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