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MPs Stephen Byers, Patricia Hewitt, Geoff Hoon and Margaret Moran ? who are all standing down at the next election ? were secretly recorded discussing financial payment with an uncover reporter posing as a company executive looking to hire MPs for lobbying work.Mr Byers, the former trade and transport secretary, is alleged to have described himself as ?like a sort of cab for hire? for up to ?5,000 a day, echoing Mohamed al-Fayed's revelation 16 years ago that you can "hire an MP the way you hire a London taxi." The Dispatches and Sunday Times investigation also alleges that:? Miss Hewitt, a former health secretary, claimed she was paid ?3,000 a day to help a client obtain a key seat on a Government advisory group.? Mr Hoon, the former defence secretary, offered to lead delegations to ministers and said he was looking to turn his knowledge and contacts into ?something that frankly makes money?, and added he charged ?3,000 a day.? Miss Moran, the disgraced Luton MP who was forced to pay back ?22,500 in expenses, boasted she could telephone a ?girls? gang? of colleagues to help clients, including Jacqui Smith, the former home secretary, Hazel Blears, the former communities secretary, and Harriet Harman, the deputy leader of the Labour party.The reporter approached 13 Labour MPs and seven Conservatives in total.Mr Byers allegedly said he had brokered a secret deal with Lord Adonis, the current transport secretary, on behalf of National Express, which he said was seeking to abandon the loss-making East Coast rail franchise without incurring financial penalties.According to the investigation Mr Byers said: ?We agreed with Andrew (Adonis) ? he would be publicly very critical of National Express? as long as terms which favoured the company were agreed.Mr Byers also claimed clients would benefit from the ?trump card? of his friendship with Lord Mandelson, the business secretary.It is alleged he once telephoned Lord Mandelson to put a stop to ?massively bureaucratic? food labelling regulations after he was contacted by Tesco. Tesco has denied the claim.After the allegations emerged Mr Byers issued a statement saying he had ?exaggerated? his claims, and that he had retracted them the day after the meeting in an email.Lord Adonis and National Express have also denied the accusations. Lord Mandelson said he had "no recollection" of talking to Mr Byers about the issue.Miss Hewitt said she was offering to do the work only after she left the Commons. ?I am always willing to give advice to companies who have something positive to offer our country,? she said.A lawyer for Mr Hoon said his comments had been misrepresented.Miss Moran said: "The meeting involved hypothetical discussions about the future ? I wasn't looking for a job ... This meeting was the beginning of an attempt to rebuild my life."
