During the recent passage of the Transparency Bill, Labour, Cross Bench and some government Peers sought to amend the first part which deals with a Statutory Register of Lobbyists. Ex Ministers and former civil servants stressed that its coverage – only requiring meetings with Ministers or Permanent Secretaries to be declared – was nonsense, as…
One of the comments in response to Baroness Murphy’s post touches upon the extent to which people are now encouraged to lobby members of the House of Lords. In this, there is nothing new. One survey conducted in 1986 of charities, consumer groups, unions and other organised interests found that 70% had approached peers for the…
My post on the banning of display cabinets for cigarettes attracted the largest number of comments we have had since starting the blog. As Croft commented, if the plan was ‘to show the readers what it is like to be intensely lobbied on a hot issue then I think it is a roaring success’. The responses do…
There is something deep in the British psyche that has given a long history to custard throwing and most of us in politics have experienced it in some form at one time or another. Sometimes our families are in the firing line. Many years ago my partner was hit by an egg when she answered…
I received the following request from the News of the World the other day. “We would like you to tell us: 1. The amount you are paid for any consultancy work you do and which companies it is for. This would include the amount you are paid for being part of any advisory groups or…
