The Times,  Sam Coates and Francis Elliott, 10/1/2008

Two senior ex-ministers who will earn tens of thousands of pounds on top of their parliamentary salaries by working for the nuclear industry look set to be summoned before an inquiry into lobbying, The Times has learnt.

As John Hutton, the Business Secretary, prepares to announce today that new nuclear power stations are to be built, the relationship between Parliament and the industry, which is bidding for billions of pounds of contracts, will come under scrutiny from the Public Administration Committee.

Ian McCartney, the former chairman of the Labour Party and former Trade Minister, and Richard Caborn, the former Sports Minister and former chairman of the Trade and Industry Select Committee, have each taken the roles since standing down from the Government in the summer. They could appear before the committee in little over a fortnight.

Both say that they work in an advisory capacity and do not lobby Parliament or Government – a practice that would be banned under the rules for MPs. Their positions have been vetted by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, the watchdog that seeks to prevent ministers from cashing in improperly after leaving office.

Mr McCartney is paid at least £110,000 to be a senior adviser to the management team of Fluor Corporation, a US multinational company. Mr Caborn was appointed in November as an adviser to a consortium including Amec, the British engineering services group, but his salary has not been disclosed because he said he had not finalised the contract.

Amec and Fluor are both bidding for a £5 billion contract to run Sellafield, Britain’s biggest nuclear site, in Cumbria. The contracts are awarded by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. The inquiry is expected to last for several months.