This government promised to restore faith in politics, regulate lobbying and enhance our democratic processes.
This government promised its support to charities and the voluntary sector, with a commitment to the ‘big society’.
In just one small bill – the misnamed transparency in lobbying, non-party campaigning and trade union administration bill – it totally dismantles those promises.
In fact, it achieves the opposite.
The so-called regulation of the lobbying industry has so many exemptions it will cover only a tiny proportion. Yet at the same time it gags the legitimate and widely trusted campaigning work of charities and ‘big society’ organisations.
It is a backwards step from the lobbying industry’s own current voluntary register with no code of conduct and no sanctions.
But, most lobbying involves civil society organisations engaging in the democratic process and should be encouraged, not constrained.
Are the public crying out for changes that would stop charities and campaigning organisations from making their case and lobbying for their causes?
Or are the public deeply concerned about the access to government of large corporations and lobbying companies who won’t even declare their clients?
The Labour government was a strong advocate for the campaigning role of civil society organisations. Their role as campaigners provides a voice for some of the most disenfranchised, disengaged and vulnerable.
Criticisms that ‘so much of the effort in some parts of the voluntary sector is devoted to campaigning’ were part of the regular sniping from the then opposition before the last election.
In his speech to the NCVO conference in February 2010, Oliver Letwin stressed that what he treasured about the sector was not its campaigning role ‘but its special contribution to do something to change things and solve problems’ – but how can they if the government restricts their campaigning?
If an organisation, especially one that provides services, considers that changes to government policy will help tackle the problem they are dealing with they have a responsibility to address that.
Indeed they have an obligation to not just spend money dealing with a problem if they can identify other ways to help address it.
The idea that government should encourage them not to campaign but to shut up and spend is obscene.
As a Labour government, we didn’t just tolerate that challenging campaigning role, we actively encouraged it; and it wasn’t always comfortable. But that’s part of democracy. The very notion that government can just bring in a new law to stop that campaigning is chilling.
It’s not rocket science to work out why the government is so desperate to rush this bill onto the statute books before the next election.
What could be more democratic than engaging with campaigning and information at election time and encouraging people to vote?
And what could be more alarming for this coalition than being held to account for broken promises; for example, on tuition fees or for using the bedroom tax to push so many vulnerable and disabled people into poverty.
This is a nasty little bill.
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Angela Smith is a Labour peer and was minister of state for third sector from 2009-2010
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