Tory MP Scott Benton filmed offering to lobby ministers

Conservative MP Scott Benton talked about the lobbying services he could potentially provide to a fake company, footage from an undercover investigation appears to show.

The Times says Mr Benton was offered a paid advisory role by reporters posing as investors in a sting.

He was secretly filmed saying he could table parliamentary questions and leak a confidential policy paper.

He did not pursue the role and no rules appear to have been broken.

The BBC has only seen an edited excerpt of the footage published by the Times newspaper.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats have urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to suspend Mr Benton from the parliamentary Conservative Party.

In a statement shared with the BBC, Mr Benton, MP for Blackpool South, said: "Last month I was approached by a purported company offering me an expert advisory role.

"I met with two individuals claiming to represent the company to find out what this role entailed.

"After this meeting, I was asked to forward my CV and some other personal details. I did not do so as I was concerned that what was being asked of me was not within Parliamentary rules.

"I contacted the Commons Registrar and the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner who clarified these rules for me and had no further contact with the company. I did this before being made aware that the company did not exist and the individuals claiming to represent it were journalists."

The UK Parliament's code of conduct prohibits MPs from lobbying in return for payment.

The code of conduct says MPs may not speak in the House of Commons and make approaches to ministers in return for payment.

Labour's shadow justice secretary Steve Reed told the BBC it was "absolutely wrong for any MP to be trying to serve themselves rather than serve their constituents".

Mr Reed said it was "obvious that Rishi Sunak needs to withdraw the whip from Scott Benton immediately and any other MPs who are involved in this kind of behaviour".

The Liberal Democrats said if Mr Benton's whip was not removed by Mr Sunak, it would "make a mockery of his claim to restore integrity".

The rules around lobbying in Parliament were tightened up in an updated version of the code of conduct, which published in February following the controversy over paid advocacy work undertaken by former MP Owen Paterson.

The Times investigation comes after a similar sting operation set up by Led By Donkeys, a political campaign group.

Senior MPs, including former cabinet ministers Matt Hancock and Kwasi Kwarteng, were filmed agreeing to work for a fake company for thousands of pounds a day.

There has been a wider discussion about MPs having second jobs in recent years, and calls for reform of the rules after high profile cases involving parliamentarians conducting private business outside of their Commons duties.