Two senior Tories provoked a fresh row over MPs’ remuneration on Wednesday night after suggesting that the controversial second-home allowance could be dismantled in return for a pay rise.

Sir Patrick Cormack said salaries should be lifted from £64,766 to £130,000 – with only minimal expenses – while Douglas Hogg called for six-figure salaries with “appropriate expenses”.

Mr Hogg said MPs’ pay had now fallen so low in both “absolute and relative terms’’ it was insufficient to support the lifestyle “to which most professional and business classes aspire”.

Sir Patrick admitted that the idea could be “politically unacceptable”, but said scrapping allowances could restore confidence in parliament.

The two submissions were made to the committee on standards in public life, which is holding an inquiry into MPs’ expenses.

The idea of higher pay was immediately dismissed by Alistair Darling, the chancellor, who said it could not be justified during a recession.

“At a time when everyone else is pulling in their belts, at a time when people are worried about their jobs, some people are going part-time, MPs cannot be treated any differently from anyone else,’’ he said.

The comments threaten to embarrass David Cameron, the Tory leader, who reprimanded one senior MP, Alan Duncan, last week for describing his pay as “rations”.

Edward Davey, a Liberal Democrat MP, said the concept of a pay rise was “outrageous and offensive”.