In an echo of the last days of John Major's Tory Government in the late 1990s, several high-profile Labour MPs, including former Cabinet Ministers, were on Monday facing a parliamentary investigation into allegations of sleaze after they were secretly filmed telling an undercover reporter that they could use their contacts in the government to influence decisions for a fee.
In a footage shown on Channel 4, Stephen Byers, former Transport Secretary, is seen describing himself as a “sort of cab for hire'' and boasting that in the past he had secured deals for a train company and a leading supermarket chain by exploiting his connections with concerned Ministers. He said his fee for lobbying was £3,000 to £5,000 a day.
Two other former Cabinet ministers — Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt — were also filmed offering to lobby government for private companies. Mr. Hoon, a former Defence Secretary, reportedly said he wanted to use his government connections in a way that “frankly makes money''. His fee, he said, was £3000 a day.
The three were among a group of Labour and Tory MPs approached by undercover reporters posing as executives of an American firm as part of a sting operation conducted by Channel 4 and The Sunday Times.
All three denied any wrongdoing.
The incident, coming as it did in the run-up to the coming general elections, embarrassed Labour leadership with Prime Minister Gordon Brown facing calls to order an independent inquiry.
“I think what it shows is a party that has been in power for far too long and has lost touch with what it's meant to be doing,” Tory leader David Cameron said.
In a damage limitation exercise, government heavy-weights such as Foreign Secretary David Miliband and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling were deployed to attack the conduct of their former colleagues.
