Miliband calls on Cameron to clamp down on MPs' outside interests
|
Version 0 of 1. Ed Miliband is to write to David Cameron urging him to follow Labour and impose a ban on MPs holding outside directorships and consultancies in the wake of the cash for access allegations made against the former UK foreign secretaries Jack Straw and Sir Malcolm Rifkind. The opposition Labour leader is expected to put the ban on MPs’ second jobs in his manifesto and say he will consult on proposals to limit the amount of money MPs could earn from outside parliament to 10% or 15% of their salary – in effect, limiting outside earnings to about £10,000. Miliband tells the prime minister: “I write this letter to you not just as leader of the Labour party, but as someone who believes that we all need to act to improve the reputation of our parliament in the eyes of the British people. “I believe MPs are dedicated to the service of their constituents and the overwhelming majority follow the rules. But the British people need to know that when they vote they are electing someone who will represent them directly, and not be swayed by what they may owe to the interests of others.” The letter comes as an investigation by the Telegraph and Channel 4’s Dispatches alleges that Straw and Rifkind offered to use their positions as politicians on behalf of a fictitious Chinese company in return for thousands of pounds. Straw – who was Labour foreign secretary from 2001-2006 – has suspended himself from the parliamentary Labour party and Rifkind – Conservative foreign secretary from 1995-1997 – has said he is meeting Michael Gove, the Conservative chief whip, to discuss the allegations later on Monday. Both deny wrongdoing. Straw allegedly boasted to undercover journalists that he had operated “under the radar” to use his influence and change EU rules on behalf of a firm that paid him £60,000 a year. A recording obtained with a hidden camera shows Straw saying: “So normally, if I’m doing a speech or something, it’s £5,000 a day, that’s what I charge.” Rifkind reportedly claimed to be able to gain “useful access” to every British ambassador in the world. Journalists recorded him describing himself as self-employed, even though he earns a salary of £67,000 for being MP for Kensington. “I am self-employed – so nobody pays me a salary. I have to earn my income,” he said. Rifkind told the journalists that he usually charges “somewhere in the region of £5,000 to £8,000” for half a day’s work. A ban on outside consultancies could be imposed by Miliband on the party’s MPs from May 2015, but a cap on outside earnings would require legislation. The proposed law would phase out all outside directorship and consultancies by 2020 so existing contracts can be honoured. At present, MPs are entitled to hold directorship and consultancies as long as they declare them in the register of members’ interests and do not take part in paid advocacy on behalf of their clients in parliament. Cameron has been reluctant to support a ban on outside earnings, taking the view that it is permissible for MPs to bring their professional experience into the Commons. Miliband first proposed the ban on outside jobs – so far supported in opinion polls – in the wake of allegations of a rigged selection in Falkirk by members of Unite. Analysis of the register shows that Tory MPs earn more from outside earnings than Labour MPs. Labour estimates that there were 91 Tory MPs earning £4.4m last year and 21 Labour MPs earning less than £1m. The cap on outside earnings set at around 15 % of an MPs’ £67,000 salary is designed to ensure that MPs are entitled to keep their professional qualifications such as a doctor or lawyer up to date. The plan is likely to be criticised for further cocooning a professionalised political class from the world of work outside Westminster. Straw made clear on BBC radio on Monday morning that he did not see a case for the current rules to be be changed, but recognised that Miliband was likely to consult on the issue. Rifkind disagreed with the idea that MPs should not be able to take second jobs. He said: “The basic allegation, and you’re really referring to it at the moment, is there is something improper in the United Kingdom about a member of parliament being willing to take part – in this case on an advisory board – in a company that is seeking to invest in the United Kingdom. But of course there are probably 200 MPs who have various business interests other than their MP’s salary. “Now, some people disapprove of that and maybe the Labour party is going to disapprove of that, but many of the public take a different view – not all of them, but many say ‘actually, we don’t want full-time politicians; we want members of parliament who have some outside experience of the wider world’. And that is a perfectly reasonable proposition.” Rifkind added that an MP’s salary alone would not attract people with backgrounds in business to parliament. Channel 4 and the Telegraph disclosed that their reporters had approached 12 MPs asking whether they would be interested in joining the advisory board of a Chinese company. Six of the 12 did not respond and one said his contacts were not “for sale”. Straw and Rifkind agreed to enter discussions with the fictitious company, which, they were told, was looking to expand its business interests in Europe and form an advisory board. Rifkind told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he had nothing to be embarrassed about and that the allegations were unfounded as he did not accept an offer from the fake firm. Defending himself on Today, Rifkind said: “Every single thing I said to these people, I would have been willing to say on television or to you, if you’d put the same questions to me at the time”. He said he had offered to give an interview to Dispatches to personally answer allegations, but that they had refused to allow him. The Dispatches investigation will air on Channel 4 on Monday. Rifkind said he would not resign as chairman of the Commons intelligence and security committee unless his committee colleagues wanted him to, arguing that the two things had nothing to do with each other. Speaking to the same programme, Straw said that he was “mortified” that he’d fallen into a trap “set by very skillful journalists”. Like Rifkind, he said his words had been taken out of context and denied any wrongdoing. The former Labour cabinet minister sought to explain his comments that he operated “under the radar”, saying that he had sought to negotiate changes to “obscure aspects” of EU sugar regulations on behalf of the company ED and F Man. “You can get further with EU officials by being polite and quiet and forensic rather than shouting,” he said. Straw said that the recorded discussion was about what he might do once he left the Commons in May, but that he should have waited to have such conversations once he had stood down. Straw says he has earned money from second jobs while working as MP for Blackburn, adding he had declared every penny. “I have never ever misused information or contacts that I gained as a minister,” he said. Any reform to MPs outside interests still leaves open the question of the outside interests of peers, who are aid an attendance allowance, and often used by lobbyists to make small and sometimes necessary changes to legislation. |