Scotland's First Minister, Mr Donald Dewar, has called for an inquiry into allegations of lobbying contacts with senior politicians.
The allegations appeared in the Observer yesterday.
The newspaper said it had videotaped senior members of Scotland's largest public relations company, Beattie Media, saying they had arranged meetings with several ministers of both the British and Scottish parliaments on behalf of clients.
At the centre of the allegations is Mr Kevin Reid (28), son of the Scottish Secretary, Dr John Reid, and head of Beattie Media's political lobbying arm.
Mr Reid and Mr Alex Barr, a Beattie director, met an Observer journalist posing as a contact for a US businessman who wanted to gain access to lucrative contracts under the government's Private Finance Initiative. The pair were allegedly filmed telling the reporter that the lobbying group:
Enjoyed regular contact with the Scottish Finance Minister, Mr Jack McConnell, who headed the Beattie lobbying arm until last December, when he was selected as a Labour candidate.
Helped persuade the British Transport Minister, Lord Macdonald, to grant trans-shipment rights at Glasgow's Prestwick airport to the US courier, Federal Express.
Arranged for the Scottish Sport Minister, Mr Sam Galbraith, to be entertained by the Scottish Premier League at a European soccer match to lobby for money for soccer training.
Yesterday, the chief executive of Beattie Media, Mr Gordon Beattie, apologised to the ministers named by members of his staff during the meeting with journalists. He insisted his firm had done nothing unethical and he would co-operate with any inquiry established by Parliament. Dr Reid said in a statement that "this is a squalid attack on my son because he is my son". He said the evidence made it clear his son had refused to "go down the road of access for remuneration".
Later, Mr Galbraith, Mr McConnell and the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, Mr Henry McLeish, issued a joint statement calling for an investigation into the comments attributed to Beattie employees.
They said suggestions lobby groups could grant access to ministers were untrue.