<p><br /> Three former Cabinet ministers have been suspended by the Labour Party over allegations they were prepared to use their position to influence government policy for cash.<br /> </p><p><br /> Party sources said that Stephen Byers, Geoff Hoon, and Patricia Hewitt had been suspended pending a full investigation.<br /> </p><p><br /> The decision was said to have been taken by Chief Whip Nick Brown and General Secretary Ray Collins following the screening of Monday night's Channel 4 Dispatches documentary.<br /> </p><p><br /> The three were secretly filmed by an undercover reporter discussing the possibility of working for what they thought was an American lobby company.<br /> </p><p><br /> The move follows angry scenes at the weekly meeting at Westminster of the Parliamentary Labour Party where a number of MPs demanded action against them.<br /> </p><p><br /> Meanwhile Conservative sources said that Tory MP John Butterfill, who was also featured in the programme, had referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, John Lyon.<br /> </p>
