Ivor Caplin, the former Hove MP who angered peace campaigners by championing the invasion of Iraq, is carving out a lucrative career giving advice to defence companies.

Mr Caplin has been accused of breaching anti-sleaze rules by failing to tell an independent watchdog when he started working for a missile company.

As a former Government minister at the Ministry of Defence, Mr Caplin, who stepped down at last year's General Election, was expected to inform the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments before starting another job.

The rule was drawn up to counter suspicion that an employer could make "improper use" of official information.

The Committee's guidelines state that former ministers should ask the Advisory Committee about any appointment they wish to take up outside Government within two years of leaving office.

Mr Caplin, who was Labour MP for Hove and Portslade between May 1997 and May 2005, started work as a senior consultant for political lobbyists Foresight Communications in December 2005. Yesterday Mr Caplin refused to comment on his new career. But Norman Baker, Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, condemned the former Hove MP for breaking "very clear rules".

Mr Baker told The Argus: "This sort of episode further undermines confidence in the morality of Government."