John Reid is facing calls to resign after the parliamentary commissioner for standards in Westminster said he was wrong to have seconded House of Commons researchers to Labour's fight for the Scottish parliament last year.

Elizabeth Filkin's report, leaked to the press, concludes the secretary of state for Scotland had misused the parliamentary allowance when his son Kevin worked out of London on Labour's Scottish election campaign while also being employed as a House of Commons researcher. Her report will now go before the Commons standards committee for consideration.

The Scottish Office refused to make an official statement saying it was a "private matter rather than an official one". Dr Reid's spokesman said he had fallen victim to a smear campaign.

However, the opposition is set to call for Reid's head should the report criticise his conduct. A spokesman for the SNP told epxNews: "We are waiting to see what happens as, despite the leaks, we don't know the commissioner is actually going to say. If the complaint is upheld then Reid will have to consider his position."