CASH FOR ACCESS SCANDAL HITS LABOUR IN SCOTLAND – INVESTGATION NEEDED

CASH FOR ACCESS SCANDAL HITS LABOUR IN SCOTLAND – INVESTGATION NEEDED

"HOW MANY OTHER FORMER LABOUR MINISTERS?"

“BROWN’S DYING DAYS SAME AS MAJOR’S”

Commenting on the latest cash-for-access revelations, which implicate Scottish Labour MP Adam Ingram, the SNP MP who blew the whistle on the cash for honours scandal, Angus MacNeil, has said the cocktail of scandal and Thatcherite cuts could engulf Labour in Scotland and is reminiscent of the dying days of John Major’s administration.

Today's Sunday Times reports that East Kilbride Labour MP Adam Ingram, the former armed forces minister, has been been secretly recorded saying he could draw on a pool of out-of-work ministers who could be used to harness government contacts.

Another ex-Labour minister, Richard Caborn, the former sports minister, was also recorded saying he may be in line for a peerage that would boost his chances of extracting valuable information from the corridors of Westminster.

These revelations follow reports last week on an undercover investigation by Channel Four's Dispatches programme and the Sunday Times which revealed that three former Labour cabinet ministers — Stephen Byers, Patricia Hewitt and Geoff Hoon — also offered themselves for lobbying work at rates of thousands of pounds a day. All three have been suspended.

Commenting, Angus MacNeil, the SNP MP who blew the whistle on the cash for honour scandal, said:

"With a Labour MP from Scotland involved in this latest episode of cash-for-access, Labour in Scotland is now drowning in a sea of sleaze reminiscent of the dying days of John Major’s administration in the 1990s.

"The Prime Minister must now properly investigate fully the Cash-for-Access issue, last week he dismissed such an investigation but we need to know if government decisions have been taken due to any nefarious influences.

“There are also serious question marks over the way Labour has been running Glasgow City Council and using taxpayers’ money. There has been no proper investigation there either.

"Two big Labour problems and two situations where Labour are dithering about investigating in the public interest.

“It is an affront to democracy that several former Labour ministers are either profiting or attempting to profit from the contacts they made when supposedly working for the people of this country. It is clear many of them have been preoccupied with lining their own pockets instead of helping the people.

"One fundamental question that arises from Adam Ingram's comments is who are the other former ministers he is referring to? That is a question he must answer.

""For decades Labour MPs have been serving themselves instead of serving the people. MPs should be putting their constituents first - not their own business interests."

"At the forthcoming election, voters across Scotland will have a straight choice between SNP candidates who will champion local and national causes and Thatcherite cuts imposed on them by either Labour or the Tories."