Former cabinet ministers Matt Hancock and Kwasi Kwarteng informed a phony abroad business trying to find MP advisors their everyday rate for consultancy would be £10,000.
In a sting operation established by campaign group Led By Donkeys, Mr Hancock and Mr Kwarteng both set out six-figure amounts for what they would anticipate to be paid to recommend a non-existent company in South Korea.
There is no allegation of misdeed, with MPs allowed to look for work beyond Parliament.
Mr Hancock, asked whether he had a day-to-day rate throughout an online “interview”, said: “I do, yes. It is 10,000 sterling.”
The Conservative previous health secretary, who was removed of the celebration whip by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after he was revealed as a candidate in in 2015’s series of ITV reality program I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, later on said he had an hourly rate of “around £1,500”.
A representative for Mr Hancock said the West Suffolk MP had “acted entirely properly and within the rules”.
Former Tory chancellor Mr Kwarteng, when asked the exact same concern, said: “I would say as an MP, obviously I don’t need to earn a king’s ransom.
“But I wouldn’t do anything less than for about 10,000 dollars a month.”
Mr Kwarteng, whose mini-budget in September sent the worth of the pound toppling and home mortgage rates skyrocketing, went on to clarify that he would choose the rate to be in pound sterling.
Told by a phony worker of the business they were thinking about providing in between £8,000 and £12,000 each day, with the objective for him to go to 6 board conferences a year, Mr Kwarteng said: “OK yes, we’re not a million miles off. We can work with the numbers.”
Labour implicated Tory MPs of utilizing “their taxpayer funded offices to line their own pockets”, calling the behaviour “shameful”.
Led By Donkeys, an anti-Brexit group, said it produced a sham business called Hanseong Consulting, establishing a website and spending for a so-called “fake virtual office” in the South Korean capital Seoul.
It said, after speaking with the register of MPs’ interests, it approached 20 MPs from various celebrations asking if they would sign up with the phoney company’s worldwide board of advisers.
The group offered the “company” as one with objectives to broaden into the UK and Europe, asking any prospective advisors to go to pretend board conferences kept in a mix of areas, consisting of supposedly in South Korea.
According to its sneak peek video published on social networks, Led By Donkeys said 16 of the MPs approached were Tory, 2 Labour, one a Liberal Democrat and the other an independent.
Out of those gotten in touch with, 5 are said to have actually advanced to an online interview phase, consisting of Mr Hancock and 4 Tories: Mr Kwarteng, previous education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson, previous minister Stephen Hammond and Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, a prominent backbench body.
Sir Graham, according to the video, said he was “thinking something like £60,000 as an annual rate” for helping the company.
In a declaration sent to PA news firm, the senior Tory said he explained to those behind the scam that any work would need to fall “within the terms of the Code of Conduct”.
Mr Hammond is seen in the video released on Saturday, however no information of what was said has actually been aired yet.
Led By Donkeys said Sir Gavin had turned down the opportunity to take discussions any further.
MPs are permitted to have second jobs on top of their role representing constituents.
But external employment opportunities for those in Westminster has actually come under the spotlight in recent years, following former Tory cabinet minister Owen Paterson’s suspension from the Commons for breaching lobbying rules in 2021.
He later quit Parliament following a furore after Boris Johnson’s administration attempted to rip up the standards body that dished out the punishment.
All five MPs who held a so-called “interview” with the campaigners have been approached for comment by PA news agency.
A spokesperson for Mr Hancock said: “The accusation appears to be that Matt acted entirely properly and within the rules, which had just been unanimously adopted by Parliament.
“It’s completely untrue to suggest any wrongdoing and therefore absurd to bring Mr Hancock into this story through the illegal publication of a private conversation.
“All the video shows is Matt acting completely properly.”
Sir Graham said: “Having decided to leave the Commons at the next election, I have received a number of approaches regarding future opportunities.
“I did have an exploratory discussion with someone purporting to be recruiting an international advisory board for a South Korean investment house.
“I made it clear that any arrangement would have to be completely transparent and that whilst a Member of Parliament, I would only act within the terms of the Code of Conduct.
“I also made it clear that whilst I could be flexible in attending international meetings in person, this would be subject to some important votes or commitments in Westminster.”
Thangam Debbonaire, Labour’s shadow Commons leader, contacted Mr Sunak to remove the Tories captured up in the sting of the whip.
She said: “Being an MP is a full-time job.
“Tory MPs should not be using their taxpayer funded offices to line their own pockets.
“This is shameful at any time but particularly during the cost-of-living crisis.”
She included: “Labour will put an end to MPs raking in thousands of pounds on the side and act to restore trust in politics.”
