WORCESTER’S MP has refuted allegations he “blurred the lines” between his parliamentary and outside work.

Robin Walker has been accused of a conflict of interest by transparency campaigners in relation to cuts in beer tax and caps on unsecured loans.

Mr Walker, a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Save the Pub Group, used a written question to the Treasury in March to ask what the impact would be on the public purse if duty on beers and ciders with an alcoholic strength of up to four per cent was reduced.

He also wrote to Chancellor George Osborne to ask for lower duty on the “ordinary pint”.

This was while Mr Walker was being paid £30,000 a year by PR and lobbying firm Finsbury, whose client list includes brewer Carlsberg and pub company Mitchells and Butlers.

In February, the 33-year-old tabled an amendment which would enable a backbench bill proposing a cap on the cost of taking out an unsecured loan to be voted through.

Two months later, Finsbury took on online internet lender Wonga as a client.

However, Mr Walker said there was no conflict of interest because he had never met nor worked with the businesses.

“I was involved with financial PR for industrial companies,” he said. “I worked with engineering companies or construction [businesses].

“I never dealt with anyone in the brewery side or the financial side. As soon as I became an MP I went to the parliamentary standards people and asked them ‘should I put forward Finsbury’s whole client list?’.

“They were very clear it should only be the companies I dealt with directly.”

Mr Walker said the reason he raised the beer tax issue was because of local pubs closing in Worcester.

He said it “made sense” the government should be taxing high risk alcoholic drinks and not those generally lower in alcohol levels such as real ales.

In relation to loans, Mr Walker denied he “watered down” the Bill and said it was simply a case of changing the wording.

“I proposed the amendment to make sure it could pass,” he said. “A group of backbenchers and I got together to lead a rebellion and support regulation [of unsecured loans].

“If we amended the wording, it was the only way to get it through.”

He said it was “crazy” to suggest this was linked to Finsbury’s contract with Wonga as it would have been against the interests of the company.