Sting catches two former U.K. foreign ministers offering preferential access to Chinese company in return for cash
London — Two former foreign secretaries are today exposed for their involvement in a new “cash for access” scandal, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Jack Straw and Malcolm Rifkind offered to use their positions as politicians on behalf of a fictitious Chinese company in return for payments of at least US$7,700 a day.
Straw, one of Labour’s most senior figures, boasted that he operated “under the radar” to use his influence to change European Union rules on behalf of a commodity firm which pays him US$92,000 a year.
He also claimed to have used “charm and menace” to convince the Ukrainian prime minister to change laws on behalf of the same firm. Mr Straw also used his Commons office to conduct meetings about possible consultancy work – a potential breach of rules. And he suggested that his Commons researcher had worked on his private business matters, raising further potential breaches of parliamentary rules.
Wolfgang Ischinger (left) and Malcolm Rifkind chat upon their arrival at the 51st Munich Security Conference (MSC) on February 7, 2015 in Munich, Germany. Johannes Simon / Getty Images)
Rifkind, who oversees Britain’s intelligence agencies on behalf of Parliament, said he could arrange “useful access” to every British ambassador in the world because of his status.
A senior Conservative told undercover reporters from this newspaper and Channel 4’s Dispatches, to be broadcast tonight (Monday), that he would submit questions to ministers on behalf of a paying client, without revealing their identity.
Rifkind also described himself as “self-employed” and had to “earn my income” – despite being paid more than US$100,000 by the taxpayer for his work as an MP. The disclosure that two of Britain’s most senior politicians are embroiled in a new “cash for access” scandal highlights Parliament’s failure to address the issue which has plagued British politics for a generation.
Alistair Graham, the former chairman of the Westminster standards watchdog, said it was “shocking” that two experienced MPs responded to the approaches in the way that they did.
He expressed concern that Rifkind was “so willing to sell himself” with his “enormous range of contact lists”. He added that it was against the rules for Straw to attempt to negotiate a business contract in his Commons office.
Britain's former foreign secretary Jack Straw listens to Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Iranian parliament's foreign policy and national security committee, during their meeting at the Iranian parliament in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2014. Vahid Salemi / The Associated Press
Last year Rifkind registered earnings of pounds US$107,073 from his work outside Parliament, while Mr Straw earned pounds US$173,470 from his outside business activities. Analysis by this newspaper of MPs’ overall earnings showed they made more than US$11,384,345 from outside work in the past year.
More than five years ago, David Cameron warned that lobbying was the “next big scandal” and promised to tighten the rules – a pledge which has not been properly enacted. Over the past few months, reporters approached 12 MPs asking if they would be interested in joining the advisory board of a Chinese company.
They were chosen because of concerns about their business activities.
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 Chinese company looking to expand its business interests in Europe.
The Chinese “company” wanted to form an advisory board. Undercover reporters met Rifkin at the fictional firm’s Mayfair office in January. Rifkind, who served as foreign secretary under then prime minister John Major, described the access he could offer.
He said he could meet “any ambassador that I wish to see” in London. “They’ll all see me personally,” he added.
“That provides access in a way that is, is useful”.
In a second meeting, Rifkind suggested that he would be willing to write to ministers on behalf of the company without declaring the name of the firm.
Rifkind’s offer to write to ministers without “naming who was asking” is likely to cause concern because of the rules governing interests when communicating with ministers or officials.
Rifkind said it would be a “clear breach of the code of conduct if he’s not explaining that he’s acting as a consultant on behalf of a particular company when he’s seeking information”.
During a discussion about the former minister’s availability, he disclosed that he had a lot of “free time”.
The undercover reporters met Straw at his office in the House of Com
Former U.K. foreign minister Malcolm Rifkind says through a combination of 'charm and menace' he persuaded Ukraine's Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, right, to verturn a law in Ukraine that would have hindered aclient operating a factory they had recently refurbished. Efrem Lukatsky / The Associated Press
The MP explained how he had helped EDF Man, a commodities company with a sugar refinery in Ukraine, change an EU regulation by meeting officials in Brussels.
He also claimed that he had overturned a law in Ukraine that would have hindered the commodities firm operating a factory they had recently refurbished.
The law made their activities “completely uneconomic” and so Straw took company representatives to see Mykola Azarov, the then-Ukrainian prime minister, in September 2011.
“It’s a combination of sort of charm and menace…. I mean he [the prime minister] understood.”
Straw and Rifkind denied any wrongdoing.
A spokesman for Straw said: “He has always conducted himself, in whatever capacity, in accordance with the appropriate rules.”
He said there was “nothing inappropriate” in him using the “knowledge and experience” he has acquired as an MP after he stands down. The spokesman added that Straw “has always been full and frank in any work carried out on behalf of EDF Man” and had declared his role with the firm to Azarov and the European Commission.
The spokesman said Straw’s use of the phrase “charm and menace” would have been “colloquial and a purely conversational description of the approach he had adopted”.
Asked about Straw’s boast that he operated “under the radar”, his spokesman said: “This was a reference to his preferred strategy of affecting a change to regulations by discussion and negotiation, rather than conducting a high-profile public campaign.”
The spokesman said Straw used his parliamentary office to hold the meeting “to save time” because of his “busy schedule”. The spokesman added that the work carried out by the researcher for EDF Man “is not paid by the public funds”.
Straw said that when he mentioned the US$7,700 a day fee he was giving it as an example and not as part of a negotiation.
Rifkind said he believed the “firm” had sought his help as a former foreign secretary rather than as an MP. He said: “I have never undertaken, nor would I undertake, any lobbying as an MP on behalf of any private organization from which I was receiving remuneration.”
He insisted that when he said he could write to ministers he was only offering to obtain information that was “already in the public domain”.
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