Wednesday, 27 March 2013 18:00

New report: Scaring the living daylights out of people

By
New report: Scaring the living daylights out of people

In a Spinwatch report published today, Anna Minton examines allegations of dirty tricks, sham local consultations and a well-oiled revolving door between developers and councils. She also reveals how lobbyists set out to intimidate local opposition to the controversial HS2 high speed railway. 

Intimidation, bullying or conflicts of interest are common practice among lobbyists, developers and local authorities involved in pushing through contentious development such as HS2.

‘Scaring the living daylights out of people: the local lobby and the failure of democracy’ details case studies from around the country. The revelations include information about how lobbyists working for the Campaign for High Speed Rail set out to intimidate local opposition aiming “to shit them up”.

The report outlines how these tactics have implications for the way democratic debate develops in the UK, with these routine abuses, which reflect the failure of democracy, undermining the public interest.

It reveals allegations of dirty tricks on the part of developers and lobbyists acting for them, which include fake letter writing campaigns and the use of front companies to obscure the real intention behind planning applications.

And it highlights how the revolving door between councils and developers has seen a number of high profile council employees move from local authorities where they worked on contentious schemes to work for the developers of those schemes.

The consultation process on the planned demolition of large parts of central London, including the Heygate Estate in south London, the Carpenters Estate in East London and the Earls Court project in West London, is widely derided by residents as a ‘sham’. Meanwhile consultations around the country, from London to East Devon, Liverpool and Aberdeenshire are dismissed by residents, with many of the companies carrying out consultations on contentious schemes employed by the developers of those schemes.

The report also reveals the links between lobbying, PR and the media with local residents protesting against development reporting that local media has run campaigns against them. In Aberdeenshire, for example, local residents opposed to Donald Trump’s golf course development have been subject to alleged intimidation and harassment and politicians opposing the development were vilified in the local media.

Download the report [1.7mb pdf] 

Published in Local lobbying
Tagged under
Download attachments:
Anna Minton

Anna Minton is a writer and journalist. She spent a decade in journalism, including a stint as a corporate reporter on the Financial Times, and is the winner of five international journalism awards. She is the author of Ground Control: Fear and Happiness in the 21st Century City, (Penguin 2012)

Related items

back to top

Investigations

 

  1. Why are counter terrorism police still spying on the anti-fracking movement?
  2. The UAE Lobby: Subverting British democracy?
  3. Why has a Republican attack operation opened shop in the UK?
  4. Rebranded D-Notice committee issued two notices over Skripal affair
  5. Time to fix the revolving door rules for special advisers
  6. Environmental permit breaches by Cuadrilla at Lancs fracking site
  7. MI5 and the Hooded Men: Operation Calaba
  8. The Grenfell inquiry must look at the developers carving up our cities
  9. 'Meet the Frackers’: a Spinwatch lobbying tour 
  10. New documents reveal North Yorkshire Police's close relationship with fracking firms
  11. East Midlands parish councils reject Ineos’ assault on community spaces
  12. FBI probe Clinton friend and foundation donor over bribery claims
  13. Emails reveal Glasgow University academics' close links to fracking industry
  14. Report on the Israel Lobby and the European Union
  15. The final frontier for privatisation: schools
  16. Morris Fraser, child abuse, corruption and collusion in Britain & Northern Ireland
  17. BAT corruption scandal in Africa leads to London HQ
  18. Crime lord of the rings
  19. Another spycop exposed: Carlo Neri confirmed as an undercover
  20. Insurance double-whammy for householders near planned fracking sites
  21. One of America's most dangerous think tanks is spreading Islamophobic hate
  22. Holyrood exposed: a guide to lobbying in Scotland
  23. Report on the Henry Jackson Society think tank
  24. The 'ninja' NHS privatisers you've never heard of...
  25. Access all areas: frackers, lobbyists and the revolving door

Campaigns

Prevent

 

Get email updates

    

"Could Not Retrieve any Tweets"

Whistleblower?

Disillusioned with the PR tactics of your employer?  If you have inside knowledge about wrongdoing in a PR or lobbying agency, a corporation or government office, we would love to hear from you.

Get in touch anonymously if necessary - we will investigate and help get your story out. Call the spinbusting hotline: +44 7786 927551 or email us now.