Jack Straw in insurance car crash

The tentacles of the car insurance industry reach a long way, and now even one of its supposed opponents has now found himself embraced in its slippery arms.

The former Labour minister Jack Straw, who has been key to the campaign to stop insurers charging referral fees to ambulance-chasing lawyers, has himself been found taking their shilling in the form of £5,000 for three hours' work at an industry-sponsored event in which he gave a speech and took part in a question and answer panel.