BLACKBURN MP Jack Straw has strongly denied any wrongdoing after being secretly filmed apparently offering his services to a private company for cash.

Mr Straw told the BBC he was ‘absolutely not on the fiddle’ and that he considered the meeting with undercover Daily Telegraph and Channel 4 reporters to be to discuss projects for after he finished as Blackburn MP.

He and Sir Malcolm Rifkind were involved in a ‘sting’ by journalists claiming to represent a Hong Kong-based communications agency called PMR which was seeking to hire senior British politicians to join its advisory board.

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But Mr Straw, who has already announced he is stepping down as an MP in May, said he had been ‘proud’ of his record and that he had acted within the rules.

He said: “Of course I am absolutely mortified that I managed to fall into this trap set by the reporters.

“I have been proud of the record that I have had over 36 years of fighting as hard as I can for my Blackburn constituents and I understand people will say ‘what the devil is going on?’.

“I stand absolutely by my record. I have done my very best.

“It has been a massive privilege to be the MP for Blackburn. However, I am going to be finishing as an MP.

“I am mortified this has happened. What I hope is people in Blackburn and East Lancashire will say ‘you should not have fallen into the trap’, but that I am entitled to look at what I will do when I finish as an MP.”

At one of the secretly-filmed meetings, Mr Straw is said to have described how he operated ‘under the radar’ to use his influence to change European Union rules on behalf of a commodity firm which paid him £60,000 a year.

He was also said to have claimed to have used ‘charm and menace’ to convince the Ukrainian prime minister to change laws on behalf of the same firm.

The meetings to discuss possible consultancy work were said to have taken place in his House of Commons office - a potential breach of Commons rules.

Mr Straw has referred himself to the parliamentary commissioner for standards.

He said: “I wish it were a different kind of morning. I did not expect the last six or seven weeks of my time in parliament to be determined as I fear they will be by this.

“It is a horrible situation to be in.

“I have been in parliament for 36 years. I have not just followed the letter of the rules, I have sought to follow the spirit of the rules.”