Scott Benton suspended as Tory MP after lobbying sting

Scott Benton has been suspended as a Conservative MP after he was filmed offering to lobby ministers for a fake company in a newspaper sting.

Mr Benton had the party whip removed after referring himself to Parliament's standards watchdog.

It comes after a Times report said Mr Benton was offered a paid advisory role by reporters posing as gambling industry investors.

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

Mr Benton was secretly filmed by undercover reporters saying he could table parliamentary questions and leak a confidential policy paper.

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

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.

A spokesperson for Chief Whip Simon Hart said: "Following his self-referral to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards earlier this evening [Wednesday], Scott Benton has had the Conservative Party Whip suspended whilst an investigation is ongoing."

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an independent officer who investigates allegations that MPs have breached the code of conduct.

Following investigation, if they think the allegation represents a breach of the code, they can put such cases before MPs sitting on the Committee on Standards, who can decide any sanctions.

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

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".

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. No rules were broken by the former ministers.

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.