London , England ( CNN ) -- Britain 's Labour Party suspended four members of Parliament -- including three former Cabinet ministers -- after they were secretly filmed offering to sell their government influence , the party said Tuesday . The party said it has launched an investigation of Geoff Hoon , Patricia Hewitt , Stephen Byers and Margaret Moran and suspended all four from the Parliamentary Labour Party . None of the four plans to run in the next election , expected to be held in May . `` The Labour Party expects the highest standards of its representatives and believes that they have a duty to be transparent and accountable servants to their constituents at all times , '' the party said in a statement . What the British media has now dubbed the `` cash-for-lobbying '' scandal comes just weeks before the expected general election in which Labour , the ruling party , faces a stiff challenge from the opposition Conservatives . Cabinet Secretary Gus O'Donnell , a non-partisan official , called the allegations `` extremely serious . '' The undercover filming was done by reporters for Channel 4 's `` Dispatches '' program , which aired Monday night . They set up a fictional U.S. company that claimed to want to hire British politicians for an advisory board , and an undercover reporter then invited the MPs to a rented office in London to discuss the work . A hidden camera captured the politicians agreeing to use their experience and influence to lobby the government in exchange for thousands of pounds ( dollars ) in pay . `` I 'd be very interested . I 'm a bit like a sort of cab for hire , I suppose , at the moment , '' said Byers , who was the transport and business secretary under former Prime Minister Tony Blair . Byers said he usually charges a daily rate of between £3,000 and £5,000 ( $ 4,500 and $ 7,500 ) for similar work . Among the services Byers offered was to try to get Blair to show up at a client 's event . `` The three to five just depends a bit on the work , the clients , to be honest , '' Byers said on the tape . `` I mean , sometimes I can charge more . '' Hoon , who was British defense secretary during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 , said he would request a similar amount . He said he could lead delegations to see certain ministers , or he could write letters to ministers to persuade them to see a client . `` One of the challenges , I think , which I 'm really looking forward to is sort of translating my knowledge and contacts about ( the ) international scene into something that , bluntly , makes money , '' Hoon said . Lawmaker Margaret Moran , who was implicated in the parliamentary expenses scandal last May , was also shown on hidden camera to be interested in a possible job . Moran spent £22,500 ( $ 33,700 ) of taxpayers ' money for repairs on a seaside home far from her constituency , days after declaring it as her second home , records last year showed . Moran told the undercover reporter that she would be willing to approach parliamentary committees or special advisers on behalf of the company . Hewitt , who served as health secretary and trade and industry secretary in the cabinet , said she is looking for another `` major board position '' to employ her for three days a month . Asked how easy it would be for her to arrange meetings with Cabinet ministers or senior civil servants , Hewitt replied , `` It 's very doable , but you have to be kind of quite careful , you know , about how you do it . And it partly depends on the individual minister . '' The Conservatives called on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to launch an investigation into the scandal . Peter Hoskin , a columnist for The Spectator magazine , described the revelations as `` dirty money and dirtier politics . '' `` Our democracy could hardly bear another major political scandal , but here we have one : as grubby , underhand and dispiriting as last year 's expenses revelations , '' Hoskin wrote . `` The question now is whether it 's as widespread . '' Daily Telegraph columnist Mary Riddell called it `` the week that could finish Labour '' and said it put the Conservatives , also called the Tories , in a good position ahead of the election . `` Any hope that the shadow of greed had lifted was crushed by accusations that former ministers sought money for favors , '' she wrote . `` The taped claim by Stephen 'Cash ' Byers that ' I 'm like a sort of cab for hire ' is a remark geared to give the Tories a chauffeured drive to power . ''
Britain 's Labour Party suspends four senior MPs in cash-for-lobbying scandal . Lawmakers were secretly filmed offering to sell their government influence . Score: 7 Politicians agreed to lobby government in exchange for thousands of pounds .