The parliamentary standards watchdog has found “no breach of the rules on paid lobbying” by two former foreign secretaries, Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Jack Straw, after an investigation into cash-for-access allegations.



Both denied wrongdoing and referred themselves to the parliamentary standards commissioner following a sting by undercover reporters working for the Daily Telegraph and Channel 4’s Dispatches.

Kathryn Hudson, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, found that neither was in breach of the code of conduct or the rules of the house “other than in Mr Straw’s case by a minor misuse of parliamentary resources”.

She said: “The use of carefully selected excerpts from the recordings does not necessarily give the viewer a detailed understanding of the circumstances and the full evidence behind the interviews. This may result in the viewer being led to conclusions which do not stand up to detailed scrutiny.”

The Commons standards committee, made up of MPs and lay members, was more critical of the media investigation and coverage. Its report said it was “very concerned that the matter should have been reported in this fashion”.

It added: “By selection and omission, the coverage distorted the truth and misled the public as to what had actually taken place. The commissioner rightly draws attention to the continuing debate around MPs’ external interests, and notes some of the complexities involved.

“This is a legitimate subject for media scrutiny, but it places a responsibility on the media to ensure fair and accurate reporting. The debate about what MPs should or should not do is not assisted by the conduct of the reporters in this case.”

The story, published in February, led Straw to suspend himself from the parliamentary Labour party and Rifkind to step down as the chairman of parliament’s intelligence and security committee and as an MP.

The report alleged that Straw 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 earned a salary of £67,000 as MP for Kensington: “I am self-employed – so nobody pays me a salary. I have to earn my income.”

The committee said, however, that the rules permit MPs to seek outside employment and, in Straw’s case, he had been discussing what an MP might do after he or she has left parliament.

Responding to the result of the investigation, Rifkind said: “I thank the standards commissioner and the standards committee for their very full examination of the allegations by Channel 4 Dispatches and the Daily Telegraph, and their conclusion that these allegations had no substance and were unjustified.”

He added: “Channel 4 Dispatches and the Daily Telegraph must recognise the judgment of the standards commissioner and the standards committee that they were responsible for distortion and for misleading the public in making these allegations.

“It has been for me, for my family and for my former parliamentary staff a painful period, which we can now put behind us. My public life has continued over the last seven months with the support of colleagues. I am looking forward to the years ahead in very good spirits.”

Straw said he was “naturally delighted” with the result. “Throughout my 36-year parliamentary career I took great care to act with probity and to treat the rules of the House of Commons with the greatest respect,” he said.

Straw said he regretted “ever having fallen into the trap”, adding that he had made serious efforts to check on the bogus company before the meeting “but these checks were not enough to expose what was a deliberate and meticulously planned deception”.

He added: “At the time of this sting I said that I felt mortified that I had fallen into this trap but that I had not acted improperly in the meetings, nor more widely in respect of my parliamentary duties and the rules of the house.

“I have been fully vindicated in this. The commissioner’s report gives the full context of what happened, which was not available to the public at the time. It has been very sad that the final chapter of my long period in the Commons has been overshadowed in this way.

“The whole episode has taken a huge toll on my family, my friends and on me. But the commissioner’s conclusions and the committee’s findings will now enable me to get on with my life.”

Straw, whose name was not put forward for a peerage by Ed Miliband in the wake of the allegations, indicated he would still like to be elevated to the House of Lords.

Asked later on Radio 4’s The World At One if he might take up a seat in future, he replied: “I have been enjoying seeing more of my family, and I’ve been enjoying my life outside parliament. But I remain at heart a parliamentarian”.

Channel 4 and the Daily Telegraph issued statements defending their journalism, saying the investigation was in the public interest.

“Channel 4 Dispatches stands by its journalism; this was a fair and accurate account of what the two MPs said. This investigation was in the public interest and revealed matters which were of serious public concern,” the broadcaster said.

The Telegraph said: “The Daily Telegraph conducted an investigation that was in the public interest and accurately revealed matters … of concern to millions of voters. We raised a number of serious questions about the conduct of members of parliament. We suspect voters will find it remarkable that, despite the scandal of MPs’ expenses, parliament still sees fit for MPs to be both judge and jury on their own conduct.”