Update 2 - PM denies meeting UK Conservative MP who reportedly offered business consultant services

Updated, Adds PM's comment, video - A senior British Conservative MP who was in Malta on a trip funded by taxpayers' money, offered business consultant services, the UK's Telegraph newspaper reported.

Mark Pritchard told an undercover reporter in Malta that he could use his “network” to set up meetings with politicians in countries where he had parliamentary connections.

He offered to use his political contacts to set up business deals with foreign officials and ministers in return for being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds.

However in other comments, to The Guardian, he denied wrongdoing and said he had referred himself to the parliamentary standards watchdog to investigate the matter. he described the claims against him as 'malicious'.

The Telegraph said Mr Pritchard sits on official parliamentary groups for many countries where, in return for payment, he was offering to broker investments and to arrange meetings with senior government figures.

Parliamentary rules ban MPs from seeking to profit from their positions and warns politicians to avoid any potential conflict of interest. 

The Telegraph says its undercover reporter first met Mr Pritchard when he visited Malta on an official parliamentary trip in July. The MP stayed on the island for five days and met members of the new government with another Tory politician.

However, when he attended functions, Mr Pritchard handed out his consultancy cards. When the reporter approached the MP at his hotel and explained that he was looking for new business opportunities in Britain, Mr Pritchard explained he should contact him because “I run a couple of businesses outside Parliament, if I can help”.

In September, the undercover reporter met the MP in London to discuss hiring him as a consultant.

The MP set out possible investment opportunities, including a boutique hotel in Albania and another project in Hungary. Mr Pritchard is on APPGs for both of these countries.

The MP boasted that he had been to 86 countries and, from the discussions with the undercover reporter, he seemed to be discussing ventures in many of these places.

In total, the MP invited the undercover reporter to accompany him on eight foreign trips, including to Japan, the Dominican Republic and Hungary. He is on parliamentary groups for each of these countries.

However, the investment opportunity Mr Pritchard appeared most keen to promote was in Albania.

The MP is a well-known figure in the Conservative Party who has spoken out against David Cameron’s premiership.

PM MUSCAT DENIES MEETING MP

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat questioned this morning, denied ever having ever officially met Mr Pritchard, saying they only met at a Joseph Calleja concert, when they chatted about the concert and the weather.