|
|
Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
David Heath MP writes… Action at last on a lobbyists’ register
January 28, 2012 10:50 AM
• [Jan 20] David Heath* writes: IT'S strange how this selective amnesia thing works. The official Opposition has been agitating over recent weeks about when the government will publish the promised consultation on a Statutory Register of Lobbyists. You'd think they had always been in favour of such a thing. Er, no, not exactly. Because there were calls for its introduction under the last government. Liberal Democrats, for instance, asked repeatedly why the then Labour government wasn't responding to clear recommendations from select committees to do just that. Labour ministers didn't want to know . .
There are still some serious questions to be addressed. Should the register include detailed financial information? Or does that simply make the register over-bureaucratic without making things more usefully transparent? Should the activities of Trades Unions be included? Are we right to insist that the industry itself should fund the register, but that it should be run by a body independent of government or lobbying companies? Should the register be extended to those who lobby only the devolved administrations or local government? And what about sanctions for those who don't stick to the rules?
We need answers to those questions before moving forwards. But after years of shilly-shallying by the previous government, at last something is being done, and that something is the statutory register which we as Liberal Democrats campaigned for in the last election. And that's good news.
* David Heath is MP for and
• David Heath MP writes… Action at last on a lobbyists' register