SpinWatch Exclusive, 23 September 2008

Spinning the Wheels: A guide to the PR and lobbying industry in the UK is a new publication by SpinWatch.

The booklet provides a snapshot of an industry that prefers to stay out of the limelight. It documents the tactics used by leading PR and public affairs companies on issues such as nuclear power, science, food and local government. It then takes you on a tour of leading PR companies, think tanks and corporate funded science organizations in the UK.

Spinning the Wheels also gives an insight into lobbying, a sub-sector of the PR industry. It argues that while lobbying is a legitimate activity, the majority is undertaken by or on behalf of industry. By examining the links between personnel in commercial lobbying consultancies and politics in the UK, it reveals the enormous disparity in access and influence between the business interests able to afford their services and those lobbying in the not-for-profit sector.

The booklet was launched on Monday 22nd September at a fringe event at the Labour Party conference. The event, called Will Lobbyists Come Clean? was a debate on transparency in lobbying and whether rules should be introduced to open up lobbying activity to more public scrutiny. It was organised by the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency (ALT), of which SpinWatch is a member.

You can either download a copy for free here, or order a hard copy from the SpinWatch bookshop.