Earning cap for MPs on the table in wake of lobbying revelations

Leader of the opposition Ed Miliband has floated proposals for a cap on MPs’ earnings from outside Parliament, as two of Westminster’s most senior former ministers were forced to defend themselves against cash-for-access allegations.

Former foreign secretaries Jack Straw and Malcolm Rifkind were secretly filmed by reporters posing as representatives of a fictitious Hong Kong-based firm seeking to hire senior British politicians to join its advisory board.