Former British ministers Malcolm Rifkind, Jack Straw accused in cash-for-access sting

An undercover report has accused two British former foreign ministers of offering to use their positions to help a fake Hong Kong company in exchange for payment.

The allegations against senior Conservative party lawmaker Malcolm Rifkind and top Labour party MP Jack Straw come just months before a general election and echo "cash for access" scandals that caused political uproar in the past.

Rifkind and Straw are the most prominent figures to have faced such accusations, and Straw suspended himself from the Labour party following the publication of the report.

In an undercover sting by the newspaper and TV programme Channel 4 , reporters pretended to be from PMR, a fake Hong Kong communications company that had actually been created as a ruse by the show's producers.

PMR, backed by a fictitious Chinese businessman, supposedly was seeking to hire influential British politicians to join its advisory board, as it attempted to gain a business foothold in Britain and Europe. Twelve MPs were contacted to see if they were interested.

According to the report, Straw offered to use his influence to help the company in exchange for payment of £5,000 (HK$60,000) a day.

In a meeting with a woman Rifkind was told was the niece of PMR's Chinese backer, the MP offered to arrange "useful access" to every British ambassador in the world because of his status, the report said. Rifkind was also asked if he could provide information about the route of a planned British rail line, because the businessman wanted to invest in land nearby. Rifkind offered to take "soundings" on the businessman's behalf. Rifkind told the BBC he had not accepted anything and was not at the negotiating stage, but had just gone to the meeting to hear what they had to say.