Labour suspends former ministers

Three former British cabinet ministers were last night suspended by the Labour Party over allegations they were prepared to use their position to influence government policy for cash.

The decision was said to have been taken by chief whip Nick Brown and general secretary Ray Collins following the screening of last night's Channel 4 Dispatches documentary.

Former Defence Minister Geoff Hoon, Stephen Byers and Patricia Hewitt were suspended pending further investigation following the screening of a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, in which all three were secretly filmed meeting a bogus American lobby firm.

The three were secretly filmed by an undercover reporter discussing the possibility of working for what they thought was an American lobby company.

The move follows angry scenes at last night’s weekly meeting at Westminster of the Parliamentary Labour Party where a number of MPs demanded action against them.

Former transport secretary Stephen Byers told an undercover Channel 4 Dispatches reporter, posing as an American lobbyist, that he had persuaded the government not to penalise National Express after it had to give up a mainline rail franchise.

In the House of Lords yesterday, the current transport secretary, Andrew Adonis, said it was “complete fantasy” that Mr Byers had influenced his actions, insisting that he had taken every action that was legally possible against the company.

Receiving support from both Labour and many Conservative peers, Lord Adonis said: “I have nothing for which I owe an explanation to this House or any apology. The fact that comments that are entirely unsubstantiated have been made should not, I hope, reflect upon my own personal conduct in this matter.”

Mr Byers, along with former defence secretary Geoff Hoon and former health secretary Patricia Hewitt, were among six MPs shown in the programme to have touted for lobbying work.

In one discussion with the undercover reporter, Mr Byers, who is now set to lose the Labour whip, is seen to boast that he had persuaded the business secretary, Peter Mandelson, to soften food labelling rules on behalf of the supermarket Tesco.

Mr Byers, who stood down from the cabinet in 2002, yesterday asked for the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, John Lyon, to investigate his actions, and whether he was willing to lobby without declaring his actions.

Under the existing rules, former ministers are barred from taking up outside interests for two years after they leave office, unless they have been approved, while all MPs are supposed to detail outside activity in the House of Commons’ register of interests.

Margaret Moran, a Labour MP, who also featured in the programme has also been suspended. All four are due to stand down at an election due by June.

"The Labour Party expects the highest standards of its representatives and believes that they have a duty to be transparent and accountable servants to their constituents at all times," a Labour party statement said.

Undercover footage showed Byers, a former transport secretary, telling reporters he could be hired for 5,000 pounds a day in exchange for access to ministers, secret government information and advice on influencing policy.

Earlier Byers referred himself to parliament's standards watchdog after a Sunday newspaper published allegations saying he could be paid like "a cab for hire" to lobby the government, but denied any wrongdoing.

"I am confident that he will confirm that I've complied with the MPs' code of conduct and have fully disclosed my outside interests," Byers said in a statement.

There was a public outcry last year after details of MPs' expenses claims for everything from bathplugs to pornographic films were stolen and leaked to the newspapers.

Conservative leader David Cameron, whose own party was mired in sleaze allegations in the 1990s, said the government should also investigate the Byers allegations.

"This goes to the heart of the question of the integrity of government," Cameron said.

The timing of the inquiry is uncomfortable for Brown, whose party trails the Conservatives in the opinion polls.

Brown's spokesman said there was no need for a separate government inquiry, adding: "Stephen Byers has done the right thing by referring himself to the parliamentary authorities."

The allegations revived memories of the "cash-for-questions" scandal that undermined former Conservative prime minister John Major's government. Conservative MPs were accused in the 1990s of taking money from lobbyists to ask questions in parliament.