Labour MP urges Portillo suspension

Calls for Hague to drop his shadow chancellor

The Conservatives have defended shadow chancellor Michael Portillo over allegations that he may not have revealed all his earnings as a consultant with an oil exploration company.

One Labour MP is calling on the Tory leadership to suspend Mr Portillo from his post until he fully answers questions about his relationship with the firm, Kerr-McGee North Sea (UK).

The public are entitled to know what arrangements he has had with oil companies

Foreign Secretary Robin Cook

The Observer newspaper quotes a letter from Kerr- McGee which it says suggests that the £5,000 to £10,000 declared by Mr Portillo as payment for "parliamentary services" may have been a fraction of larger earnings.

The Labour MP Fraser Kemp has written to the parliamentary commissioner for standards calling for an investigation into Mr Portillo's financial links.

Explanation demanded

And Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has also called for a clear explanation from the shadow chancellor.

He told Sky News: "He does, after all, want to be the next chancellor of the exchequer of Britain.

"The public are entitled to know what arrangements he has had with oil companies, to whom, of course, taxation is meat and drink in their relation with politicians."

A spokesman for Michael Portillo dismissed the calls for him to stand down - and insisted that he had complied with House of Comons rules and registered all the necessary information with the parliamentary commissioner for standards.

Shadow home secretary Ann Widdecombe defended her colleague.

"I am assured that Michael Portillo has done everything that has been required.

"I must go on what I know, which is that he is absolutely confident that he has done nothing wrong."

Letter revealed

The letter at the centre of the controversy, placed by Mr Portillo in the register of members' interests in the Commons, is signed by Kerr-McGee chairman Frank Sharratt.

It says that the Kensington and Chelsea MP worked for the company, which operates North Sea oil rigs, from 1981-83 and from 1997 to the present.

Mr Sharratt wrote: "We understand that you wish to register your remuneration for parliamentary services to us, which form a small proportion of a much wider agreement, and the remuneration for that part of the agreement is between £5,000 and £10,000."