David Cameron’s judgment has been suspect
on a number of issues and you would of presumed that he – and his
partner-in-arms, Nick Clegg – would have paused for thought before they pressed
ahead with another measure which will make things worse and not better.
This time, it’s a Bill about lobbying.
Nearly everyone, including the vast majority of the public, believes that we
need to take action to regulate lobbying and make it transparent. Back in 2010,
David Cameron described lobbying as “the
next big scandal waiting to happen.” In the three years since, whilst his
Ministers and the Conservative Party have become mired in a series of lobbying
scandals, there was silence.
Then, from nowhere, Cameron and Clegg have
managed to produce a Bill that is so bad that it has achieved the unique feat
of uniting transparency campaigners and the lobbying industry against it. Only
they could produce a Bill which wouldn’t stop lobbyist Lynton Crosby – whose
company has been paid a fortune by the tobacco companies to lobby on their
behalf - from advising them about tobacco policy, but could stop an
organization like Cancer UK
Local charities and organisations could
have their voices gagged. So, student bodies might be prevented from
campaigning about the Liberal Democrat broken promise on tuition fees; parent
groups could be restricted from campaigning about the local costs of childcare;
or community groups could be hindered in their campaigns about a local library
or Surestart centre.
Charities, community groups and other
organisations play a huge part in our national and local democracy. It doesn’t
matter if we agree or disagree with what they say – that’s all part of a
healthy democracy.
This Bill is an attempt to gag charities
and other campaigners. The National Association of Voluntary Organisations is
coordinating opposition from a wide range of national charities. Local
charities and community groups might want to add their voice before it is too
late.
