Britain’s ruling Labour Party has suspended three former ministers over claims they were prepared to influence policy in exchange for cash, a scandal that has erupted just weeks before an election.
Former Cabinet minister Stephen Byers — who has been at the center of the row — was suspended late on Monday shortly after a documentary was aired in which he was secretly filmed apparently offering his lobbying services for payment.
Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt, also former Cabinet ministers, were suspended along with Byers after featuring in the program, the Labour Party said in a statement.
In the undercover sting, for a Channel Four television documentary, the lawmakers were filmed apparently making an offer to a reporter posing as a lobbyist to use their government connections in exchange for money.
“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 spokesman said announcing the suspensions.
Byers described himself in the program as a “cab for hire,” charging up to £5,000 (US$7,500) a day for his services.
Hewitt and Hoon were filmed suggesting they would charge £3,000 a day for their services. All three deny wrongdoing.
The Labour Party said its lawmaker Margaret Moran was also suspended on Monday after featuring in the program.
Conservative lawmaker John Butterfill and another former Labour minister Sally Morgan, who sits in parliament’s upper house, said they had referred themselves to parliamentary authorities. Both featured in Monday’s program.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has rejected opposition calls for an inquiry into the lobbying scandal as he fights to contain the damaging row in the run-up to an election expected on May 6.
David Cameron, leader of the main opposition Conservatives, has described the allegations as “shocking” and demanded a government investigation.
Byers, a former transport minister, boasted to the undercover journalist he had made a secret deal with Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis over the termination of a rail franchise contract.
Both the rail firm, National Express, and Adonis denied this.
He also claimed Business Secretary Peter Mandelson had amended food labeling regulations after he intervened on behalf of a supermarket giant.
Mandelson said he had “no recollection” of having talked to Byers about the issue.
Byers has since insisted he “exaggerated” his influence and has retracted his claims. He has promised to clear his name.
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