MPs have voted to suspend Sinn Fein's parliamentary allowances for a year.

Northern Ireland secretary Paul Murphy made the recommendation in response to the party's continued links with criminality, particularly December's Belfast Northern Bank robbery.

While no convictions have yet been brought in the case, the International Monitoring Commission on illegal activity has blamed the republicans' paramilitary wing, the IRA, as has Ulster chief constable Hugh Orde and the British and Irish governments.

Sinn Fein's four MPs - Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Michele Gildernew and Pat Docherty - have not taken their seats at Westminster because they refuse to swear allegiance to the Queen.

But they each claimed an average of almost £110,000 per year in allowances and office costs under rules introduced under Labour.

Murphy also intends to withhold funds normally given to Sinn Fein members of the suspended Northern Ireland assembly for a further year.

Sinn Fein are already prohibited from receiving the money until April 29, following an earlier IMC ruling.

But Conservative amendments proposing that the party should have all its Westminster privileges withdrawn were defeated.

Thursday's Cabinet meeting heard a briefing from the Northern Ireland secretary on recent events.

Murphy said he still believed that the peace process would work in the end because that was what people wanted, but it could only proceed with Sinn Fein if republicans completely gave up criminality.

He was strongly supported in his view by the whole Cabinet, the Number 10 spokesman confirmed.

Debate

In the Commons debate, leader of the house Peter Hain said: "In a place that cherishes the fundamental principles of democracy, it is indeed deeply dispiriting to have to impose penalties on members who have not lived up to those principles.

"But I believe this motion is a just and a proportionate response."

Conservatives and some others called for the penalties to further.

"In effect what we are granting them are rent-free, taxpayer-funded, fully-staffed offices which seem to be used for propaganda purposes," shadow Commons leader Oliver Heald said.

 He was backed by Labour's Kate Hoey.

"I find it quite distasteful, particularly over the last few months... to have to sit at a table in Portcullis House next to someone I know and everyone knows in this House is a terrorist and a member of the [IRA] Army Council," she said.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble said in the light of claims senior Sinn Fein members were behind December's Belfast bank robber "surely we should be going further".

"It would be quite proper for those persons to be expelled from this house," he said.

But Labour leftwinger Jeremy Corbyn argued that even removing the allowances was to tread "dangerous ground" as it risked punishing voters and not the MPs.