Malcolm Rifkind resigns over 'cash for access'

Tory MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind has resigned as chairman of the parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) and said he will not seek re-election as an MP at the general election over his alleged involvement in the latest "cash for access" scandal.

He and Labour MP Jack Straw were filmed offering their services to a fake Chinese company for up to £5,000 a day in an undercover investigation by the Daily Telegraph and Channel 4's Dispatches.

Rifkind, who is paid £67,000 a year by the taxpayer, was recorded saying: "I am self-employed – so nobody pays me a salary. I have to earn my income."

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He said this morning that the allegations, which he denies, had no connection to his work on the ISC, but that he did not want them to become a distraction.

Former Labour MP Kim Howells, who chaired the ISC from 2008 to 2010, said he was "bewildered" that Rifkind had any time for outside work.

Howells told Newsnight last night that the role became a "full-time job" for him and warned that "all hell can break loose" if the intelligence and security services are not properly overseen.

"One would have thought that great care would have been needed by anyone who is chairing that committee," he said. "I think it is going to be very difficult for him."

Howells added that the reputation of the committee must not be "dragged down".

The Telegraph reported this morning that Rifkind would be told by some of his colleagues on the committee today that his position was "untenable".

The Conservatives had already suspended his membership of the party pending an internal investigation.

Straw and Rifkind deny breaching House of Commons rules and have referred themselves to Parliament's standards watchdog.

But Rifkind faced further criticism for claiming that it is "quite unrealistic" to think MPs can live on £67,000 a year without looking for extra income.

Labour leader Ed Miliband has called for a ban on MPs having second jobs.

Under the Commons Code of Conduct, MPs are forbidden from speaking in the House of Commons, asking a parliamentary question or introducing a bill in return for an outside payment, explains the BBC. They must also declare their financial interests and any paid employment in the Register of Members' Financial Interests.

Jack Straw and Sir Malcolm Rifkind in 'cash for access' row

23 February

Former foreign secretary and current chairman of the Security and Intelligence Committee Sir Malcolm Rifkind has been suspended from the parliamentary Conservative party after being accused of involvement in a new "cash for access" scandal.

Jack Straw, the former Labour foreign secretary, was caught in the same sting operation. Both men were secretly filmed offering their services to a private company for thousands of pounds in an investigation by the Daily Telegraph and Channel 4's Dispatches.

Rifkind, Tory MP for Kensington and chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, said he could arrange "useful access" to every British ambassador in the world.

He told reporters, who were posing as staff from a fictitious Chinese company, that his usual fee for half a day's work was "somewhere in the region of £5,000 to £8,000".

Despite being paid £67,000 a year by the taxpayer, he was recorded saying: "I am self-employed – so nobody pays me a salary. I have to earn my income."

Straw told the undercover reporters he operated "under the radar" to influence European Union rules on behalf of a commodity firm that pays him £60,000 a year. Asked what fee he had in mind, the MP for Blackburn said: "Normally, if I'm doing a speech or something, it's £5,000 a day."

The MPs deny any wrongdoing, but have referred themselves to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Rifkind claimed he had "nothing to be embarrassed about" and described the allegations as "unfounded".

The MP said telling the reporters he was not paid a salary was a "silly thing to say" but pointed out that he never accepted any offer from the fake firm.

Straw, who was planning to stand down as an MP in May, said he was "mortified" that he had fallen for the sting but insisted he had said nothing "improper". He added that any outside activities he had carried out in the last five years were "fully in accordance with the MPs' Code of Conduct".

He added: "The bogus company were told at the outset that any discussions with them were about what I might do once I left the Commons, not whilst I was still a serving MP."

Dispatches' Politicians for Hire will air at 8.00pm on Channel 4 this evening