TORY MP Malcolm Rifkind is leaving Parliament, having sparked a scandal on second jobs.

Rifkind told undercover reporters for Channel 4’s Dispatches, who were posing as Chinese investors, that he had loads of time to work for them because he was “self-employed.”

This claim surprised voters in his constituency of Kensington and Chelsea and ended Rifkind’s parliamentary career.

Ed Miliband proposed a ban on MPs’ second jobs, saying: “The British people need to know that when they vote they are electing someone who will represent them directly, and not be swayed by what they may owe to the interests of others.”

However, just because Rifkind is going, it doesn’t mean he gets Miliband’s point. 

On the way out, Rifkind admitted to two more lucrative outside jobs. Last week Rifkind listed £12,000 in payments from two banks — RBS and JP Morgan — for just 7.5 hours work, preparing and delivering speeches.

With banks throwing this kind of money at MPs, it is no surprise that the House of Commons failed to regulate the sector.

Payment from banks to MPs are so normal they mostly pass without comment.

Ken Clarke posed as a critic of the funny money washing around politics, telling the Observer that the Conservatives should not be “dependent on rather unrepresentative wealthy businessmen.” It was an Observer front-page story.

Soon after, Clarke admitted he got £8,000 for one speech — five hours’ work — paid for by French bank BNP Paribas.

In July 2014 BNP Paribas pleaded guilty in New York to breaking sanctions on Iran and Sudan, paying a record $8.9 billion fine. 

Clarke then took another £5,000 for a speech to Lloyds Bank — which was fined £218 million for manipulating Libor, and was also caught up in the PPI and other banking scandals.