When the Guardian polled 5000 of its readers last month on which political reforms they would most like to see introduced in the wake of the expenses scandal, the single most popular item on their long list, with 98% in favour, was a compulsory register of lobbyists.
Lobbyists are the first to admit that they’ve never been held in high regard by the public but popular demand for a crackdown? It must have come as a shock.
Public disquiet with lobbying was running high long before January’s cash-for-amendments scandal in the Lords. The 2006 Power Inquiry, the national poll to find out why we had disengaged from formal politics, talked of the need to “address the extraordinary power of corporations and their lobbying groups.” In 2004, over two thirds of a public poll said that they felt large corporations had influence over government policies (while only a third said they should). In 2003, over half the British public agreed that they have ‘no say in what the government does’.
While civil society may feel it’s lost its voice in government, the UK influence industry is thriving: it is thought to have doubled in size since the early nineties to be worth £1.9bn today, the vast majority of which comes from commercial interests. When lobbying on this scale is conducted behind closed doors, people are right to be worried.
In January 2009, the Public Administration Select Committee chaired by Tony Wright, after an 18-month inquiry into lobbying, agreed: “There is a genuine issue of concern that there is an inside track, largely drawn from the corporate world, who wield privileged access and disproportionate influence,” they said. The committee proposed a simple solution: transparency, through a mandatory, public register of lobbyists. Nearly a third of all MPs have backed their call.
A straightforward register of lobbyists would allow public scrutiny of who is lobbying whom, and which areas of public life they are trying to influence. For the first time, the public, media and, crucially, Parliamentarians would be able to see which private interests are busy delaying regulation, amending legislation, and lobbying for public contracts.
With all the recent talk of increased transparency and accountability from politicians, you’d think the government would jump at such an opportunity, not least because for it turns the spotlight away from MPs. Yet six months after the committee recommended the measure, the government has yet to decide what action to take. More worryingly still, the new minister in charge of the government’s response, Angela E. Smith, replacing Tom Watson at the Cabinet Office, told the PASC that she is “not entirely persuaded” of the need for a mandatory register. Her response is expected before the summer recess.
Which is why we are asking you to let her know now that, contrary to the belief of one senior lobbyist, people do “give a rats a*** about lobbying”. The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency, a coalition of civil society groups campaigning for a compulsory register of lobbyists, has teamed up with activist network 38 Degrees to petition the minister to introduce a compulsory register of lobbyists as a matter of urgency. If you think there’s a public interest in knowing who the government is listening to, sign here.