Legislation allowing the recall of MPs by their constituents between elections will be laid before parliament before the next general election, Nick Clegg has suggested.

The deputy prime minister was responding on his weekly LBC radio phone-in programme to a call from Zac Goldsmith, the Twickenham Conservative MP, who is a strong supporter of the right of recall.

The proposals included in the coalition agreement appeared to have been stalled partly because there was disagreement on what behaviour by an MP could trigger a constituent's right to petition for a byelection.

Clegg is proposing there has to be agreement by a select committee that an MP has behaved with serious impropriety, but figures like Goldsmith would like the right of recall to be allowed on a broader basis.

Goldsmith said the reform would empower voters and strengthen MPs by giving them implied mandates.

Clegg agreed with the principle, saying it would ensure MPs were "kept on their toes and, most importantly, when they do something wrong constituents should not have to wait until the next election but can short circuit things and trigger a byelection".

But he warned: "You cannot turn this into a kangaroo court or else everyone is going to be trying to recall everyone else. You have to have some due process in this."

He added: "I can assure you I want to see recall provisions on the statute book in this parliament."

His remarks stop short of a guarantee that the proposals will be in the imminent Queen's speech.

Goldsmith said the plans would not hand power to voters. "You can have an MP literally not turning up in parliament for year or an MP not holding a single surgery and neither thing opens them to recall. So the thing that voters would regard as a serious wrongdoing would not be regarded as serious wrongdoing by the committee that you would set up to take a view. It really has to be all or nothing."

He said half the states in the US had such powers and there was no evidence that it was used by vexatious campaigners.

Clegg also revealed he was holding discussions about how the school system could be better at foreseeing expansions of school places.

The deputy prime minister defended the cost and tone of the Thatcher funeral, saying it had been agreed on an all-party basis, but admitted he did not know yet the costs.

"These plans were not suddenly invented out of thin air, they were pretty well established in detail by the previous government, and with the full support and consent of the family," he said. "Whether you are for or against Margaret Thatcher, everyone recognises this was a big occasion and it was done on an all-party basis."

He promised the costs would be published in full but added: "The funeral arrangements of prime ministers should not be turned into political footballs."

In contrast to the remarks of David Cameron on Wednesday, he said: "I am not a Thatcherite. I am not a Conservative."

But he acknowledged Thatcher's political contribution, saying many of her economic reforms were deemed controversial but now appeared necessary.

"Whether you agree with her or disagree with her, she had a huge impact on the country, friend and foe, have recognised that over the past several days. She shook the country up economically in a way that most people now recognise as a necessary.

"But on other issues, apartheid, section 28 gay rights and the effect of some her policies on the north, I disagreed. I do not feel comfortable saying she is a role model."