This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/8588529.stm
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Hoon admits interview 'mistakes' | Hoon admits interview 'mistakes' |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Labour MP Geoff Hoon has admitted he got it "wrong" after he was filmed saying he wanted to turn his contacts in government into money. | Labour MP Geoff Hoon has admitted he got it "wrong" after he was filmed saying he wanted to turn his contacts in government into money. |
| Mr Hoon and two other former ministers were suspended for bringing the party into "disrepute" after revelations in the Dispatches programme. | Mr Hoon and two other former ministers were suspended for bringing the party into "disrepute" after revelations in the Dispatches programme. |
| Mr Hoon said he "should not have said some of the things I said", adding that he had been "showing off". | Mr Hoon said he "should not have said some of the things I said", adding that he had been "showing off". |
| But he insisted he was not offering to lobby ministers in return for cash. | But he insisted he was not offering to lobby ministers in return for cash. |
| Mr Hoon was one of a handful of MPs, including Stephen Byers and Patricia Hewitt, secretly filmed discussing employment opportunities with an undercover journalist posing as the representative of a fake lobbying firm. | |
| Mr Byers told the company he was a "cab for hire" and that he had helped to influence government decisions on behalf of companies such as Tesco and National Express. | |
| 'Showing off' | |
| Current ministers rejected Mr Byers' claims as a "fantasy" and the MP later said that he had been boasting. The companies also denied Mr Byers had acted on their behalf. | |
| The three Labour MPs have denied any wrongdoing and their cases are set to be investigated to the parliamentary authorities. | |
| The Conservatives have called for a wider inquiry into questions of lobbying at the heart of government. | |
| Mr Hoon, who is standing down at the general election, told the BBC that he had "certainly got it wrong". | |
| "I should have known better," he said. "I should not have said some of the things I said." | |
| "I accept that in the course of that conversation I said a number of things that because I thought I was engaged in what was an informal chat - wasn't leading to any particular position - | |
| "I recognise that I was guilty of... showing off, I think is probably the best expression I could use. I was trying to impress, I was trying to demonstrate my knowledge and experience, background in a particular sector." | |
| But Mr Hoon insisted that he was offering "strategic advice" only, not seeking to lobby officials in return for cash, and that his discussions related to what he could do when he left Parliament. | |
| He said he was right to be looking for opportunities when he stepped down, likening himself to an employee "working his notice". | |
| Mr Hoon, who lost his unpaid job as a UK advisor to Nato after the programme, said he had paid a "considerable price" for his mistake. | |
| While acknowledging the considerable anger within Labour at his actions, he said he was "disappointed" not to have been told about his suspension before it happened. |