Politicians clash over second jobs row

Ed Miliband has called on David Cameron to ban MPs from having second jobs "to restore the reputation of this house" following recent allegations against two former foreign secretaries.

Mr Miliband accused the Prime Minister of not wanting to change the rules after the Government amended a Labour motion that MPs should only have one job.

The Labour leader recalled comments by Mr Cameron in 2009 when he said in opposition that "being a Member of Parliament must be a full-time commitment" and that "double-jobbing MPs" would not be allowed under his leadership.

Mr Cameron said Mr Miliband's proposal was "not thought through", adding: "I think the difficulty with your specific proposal is it would allow, for instance, someone to be a paid trade union official but it wouldn't allow someone to run a family business or a family shop."

Miliband hit back, saying: "Let's agree now we will rule out anyone being a paid trade union official, a paid director, or a paid consultant. Say yes and we can restore the reputation of this House."

ITV News Political Editor Tom Bradby said Mr Miliband's performance at Prime Minister's Questions was one of his "best" for a while.

Less than 24 hours after saying he'd done nothing wrong in offering to take money for influence, Sir Malcolm Rifkind signalled the end of a parliamentary career dating back four decades earlier today.

ITV News Deputy Political Editor Chris Ship reports:

Former Conservative Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind has stepped down from an important parliamentary committee and says he'll quit as an MP at the election.

It comes after he was secretly filmed apparently discussing payment for political influence.

Sir Malcolm admitted today he may have made errors of judgment - but insisted he'd done nothing wrong.

ITV News Political Correspondent Carl Dinnen reports:

Sir Malcolm Rifkind has denied any wrong doing and said the cash for access allegations are "not justified".

He announced earlier today that he would be stepping down as an MP at the General Election and he also resigned as chairman of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee,

ITV News Political Correspondent Carl Dinnen reports:

Sir Malcolm Rifkind has again denied any wrong doing over the cash-for-access claims, saying he may have made "errors of judgement" but said, "I don't think I did anything wrong."

Sir Malcolm was speaking after his resignation as the chair of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee and saying he will step down as an MP at the general election.

The former Foreign Secretary said he had resigned as he "did not want the work of the committee to be distracted."

The Conservative party has said it supports Sir Malcolm Rifkind's decision to stand down as an MP.

Sir Rifkind, 68, also announced earlier today he would be resigning as chairman of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee

The news comes amid fresh pressure over cash for access allegations.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind has said the recent controversy over cash for payments was not relevant to him role as Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee chairman, however he has still decided to resign from the role.

He will remain on the committee.

Tory MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind is to step down as an MP at the General Election and has also resigned as chairman of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, he said.