Ministers criticise ex-cabinet pair who 'accepted cash for influence'
Former trade and industry minister Stephen Byers said he was a "cab for hire".
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Sunday, 21, Mar 2010 04:22
By inthenews.co.uk staff.
Ministers have today criticised two former cabinet members who appear to have accepted cash for influencing government policy.
In secret filming conducted jointly by the Sunday Times and Channel 4, it appears former trade and industry minister Stephen Byers said he would work for £5,000 a day for his services, deeming himself a "cab for hire".
Former health secretary Patricia Hewitt said she would need £3,000. Both Ms Hewitt and Mr Buyers deny any wrongdoing.
Foreign secretary David Miliband told Sky News he was "appalled" by the exposure of the undercover film, saying: "The Labour manifesto is going to say more about the need for a statutory register of the lobbying industry, because there is absolutely no room for the sort of innuendo or promises that seem to have been floated in this case."
While chancellor Alistair Darling deemed the revelations "ridiculous". He told the Andrew Marr show this morning: "The best answer when you get a call like that is to put the receiver back down again. It's obvious.
"There are rules about serving MPs - we've said that we're going to have to, I think, get a statutory-backed code of conduct to deal with former ministers.
"But really, what on earth did they think they were doing?"
Mr Byers told the reporter on film that he had secured secret deals with ministers, could get confidential information from Number 10 and was able to help firms involved in price fixing get around the law.
However, the next day Mr Byers retracted his claims, saying he had "never lobbied ministers on behalf of commercial interests" and had exaggerated his influence.
Tamasin Cave of the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency commented following the news: "David Cameron warned last month that lobbying is 'the next big scandal waiting to happen'. There can be no question now that decisive action must be taken to shine the light of transparency on lobbying in this country as a matter of urgency.
"We must now have public scrutiny of the whole of the influence industry. The public has a right to know what other deals are being done over public policy and government contracts."