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Lobbying - Time for Westminster to act! |
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 Time to open up
As the Public Administration Select Committee digest the recent submissions on their inquiry into lobbying at Westminster, news emerges of yet another case of privileged access that the current rules are powerless to prevent. Last week the Guardian reported that a Labour peer, Lord (Doug) Hoyle, accepted payment for introducing a lobbyist to the defence minister Lord Drayton in 2005. The lobbyist in question is one Mike Wood, of Whitehall Advisors. The similarities with the ‘cash for access’ scandal of less than a decade ago are rather clear, though nobody now seriously believes that any of our major political parties are ‘whiter than white’ on this issue.
Worryingly, the rules for peers at Westminster still allow such payments and the privileged access of Mike Wood to the House of Commons is an open secret. On 10 October 2004 the Independent on Sunday revealed that Mike Wood had been given a Westminster pass by Tory MP Gerald Howarth. Again, this favour doesn’t break any rules, as Whitehall Advisors are not covered by any of the voluntary codes for lobbyists.
The case of Whitehall Advisors is a clear reminder of the need to tighten up the rules, and enforce transparency and accountability in relation to lobbying. It is obvious that voluntary self regulation cannot secure the probity of relations between lobbyists and politicians. What confidence can the public have in a system which allows payments for peers and passes for pals? It is time our elected representatives take decisive action and produce a mandatory system of lobbying regulation.
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