The Conservatives have been accused of trying to run a 'kangaroo court' from Westminster after voting through plans to change disciplinary processes for MPs.

The Government backed down on the controversial plans, which were voted through last night, that would have seen a new committee set up to look at disciplinary processes for MPs.

It would have also have seen any possible sanctions against rule-breaking MP Owen Paterson scrapped. 

Wendy Chamberlain, the Liberal Democrat MP for North East Fife and the party's chief whip, said the Tories actions were not consistent with their rhetoric about creating a "fair and robust" process and called for a debate on what had happened. 

She said: "The consequences of yesterday's vote are clearly far-reaching.

"The Government's decision not just to meddle in an independent process but to whip Conservative members to get what they wanted is one of the worst overreaches of executive power that this House has seen in its history.

"It is shameful that this Government will not apply the same standards of scrutiny to those within its own party."

She said the "Government wants to silence us [MPs]" and added: " There must be standards which are fair and robust, and which are seen to be fair and robust, but the Government's shortsighted intervention to protect a colleague using a political process to overturn in two hours an independent investigation that took two years is the complete opposite of fair and robust."

A three-hour emergency debate on the standards system for MPs will take place on Monday, after Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle approved Ms Chamberlain's application. 

Conservative MPs Sir Peter Bottomley and Tobias Ellwood stood up in support of the debate application when Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle asked if MPs were in favour of it.