Everyone has the right to lobby to try and influence the decisions the government takes. But as the recent scandals involving Lords appear to show, some interests may have more access and influence than others.

When lobbying is shrouded in secrecy it damages politics and corrodes trust. There is a public interest in knowing who is trying to influence government decisions. For example, which companies fought against rules on junk food advertising to children, which private healthcare companies want a piece of the NHS, or which IT firms are lobbying for the introduction of ID cards. The list is endless.

You have a right to know who is lobbying whom and for what. For this, we need a compulsory register of lobbying activity. A register would make public: the names of lobbyists, who they are working for, information on the so-called revolving door between the lobbying industry and officials, and details of meetings between lobbyists and decision-makers. Tweaking the rules for Lords won’t cut it. We need transparency in lobbying now.
 
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TAKE ACTION

A group of MPs are now calling on the Government to bring in rules for lobbyists so that we can see who is lobbying whom and on what. They are proposing that the government introduces a mandatory register of lobbying activity. This was the key recommendation of a recent Parliamentary report into lobbying, published in January by the influential Public Administration Select Committee.

Urge your MP now to sign up to the Parliamentary petition, called Early Day Motion (EDM) 563, to show their support for greater transparency in lobbying.

The Parliamentary petition says:

    “That this House notes with approval the recent Report of the Public Administration Select Committee on lobbying which calls for a mandatory register of lobbying activity provided for in statute, independently managed and enforced, and which would include information provided by both lobbyists and those being lobbied; and calls on the Government to bring forward the necessary legislation as a matter of urgency.”

It’s easy. Just email your MP and urge them to sign.

1. Find out if your MP has already signed EDM 563.

1. If not, find out who your MP is from the ‘Write to Them’ website - just type in your postcode. Click here to write to your MP (opens a new window).

1. Use the website to write to your MP to ask if they will support EDM 563.
   

• Concerns about the recent allegations about Lords being willing to change laws for cash.
• Tweaking the rules for Lords won’t restore trust in decision-making. We need transparency in lobbying now through a mandatory register of lobbying activity.
• The United States has had lobbying disclosure regulations for over a decade, and President Obama has just tightened the rules for lobbyists even more.
  
• It's time that government decision-making in the UK was carried out in the light of day.