'Cash for access' scandal: Tories remove party whip from Sir Malcolm Rifkind
'Cash for access' scandal: Tories remove party whip from Sir Malcolm Rifkind
The Conservatives have suspended the whip from Sir Malcom Rifkind after he was filmed allegedly offering to use his influence in exchange for cash. Reacting to the scandal, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "These are very serious matters and we have rightly very clear rules in this country. MPs being paid to lobby is not acceptable - that is not allowed under the rules." He said he thought it was "right" Rifkind and Labour's Jack Straw, who is also embroiled in the allegations, refer themselves to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
These are serious issues, they need to be properly looked into, and I'm sure they will be.
Both Rifkind and Straw deny any wrongdoing. Straw has suspended himself from the Labour Party while the claims are investigated. They emerged following a joint investigation by the Daily Telegraph and Channel 4's Dispatches. Reporters claiming to represent a Hong Kong-based communications agency called PMR contacted the MPs to say they were seeking to hire senior British politicians to join the company's advisory board. Labour leader Ed Miliband called the claims "disturbing".
If I didn't believe it was morally right I wouldn't have done it at all. I'm quite clear that what I've done is morally and ethically right and is also within the rules.
