Archived press release

Bring lobbying out of the shadows

25 January 2008

Leading environmental charity supports Alliance for Lobbying Transparency which launches today

Friends of the Earth, a member of the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency (ALT) [1], is backing calls for Government to introduce rules that require full and routine disclosure of lobbying activities. The environmental campaigning organisation is involved in a court case next week against the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform concerning transparent lobbying.

The case concerns a freedom of information request by Friends of the Earth for access to records of lobbying meetings between the CBI and the DTI (now BERR) immediately after the 2005 general election. The information includes records of lobbying meetings between the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and Digby Jones, then Director General of the CBI and now Minister for Trade and Investment.

The Information Commission ordered the DTI to release the information to Friends of the Earth. However, the Government has now appealed to the Information Tribunal to overturn that decision. The hearing will take place over three days and will involve evidence from John Cridland, Deputy Director-General of the CBI and Friends of the Earth Executive Director Tony Juniper. The Information Tribunal hearing opens on 31 January.

Friends of the Earth calls for all lobbying to be open and transparent and believes that there is a particular public interest in knowing what the CBI has said to central government. It has published reports examining the influence of corporate lobbying on UK Government policy and demonstrating the power of the CBI in particular [2], including the misleading arguments they employ to achieve their objectives. The appointment in June of Sir Digby Jones, former Director General of the CBI, as The Minister of State for Trade & Investment to the Government demonstrates the exceptionally close relationship between Government and industry lobbying groups.

The environmental campaigning group is calling for the Public Administration Select Committee inquiry into lobbying to recommend mandatory lobbying registration, with full financial disclosure as a first step in ensuring democratic oversight of influential lobbyists [3]. It believes this information is necessary to hold the government accountable for its decisions.

Friends of the Earth's Executive Director Tony Juniper said:

"All lobbying should be transparent, the public should have a right to know what lobbyists are saying to government, on what issues and who's funding them. Far too often the public is left in the dark, whilst lobbyists go round and round the revolving door into roles as public servants and back again.

"If lobbying takes place in secret, the public is in no position to assess whether decisions are taken in the public interest or biased towards industry. The time has come to bring lobbying out of the shadows."

Phil Michaels, Head of Legal at Friends of the Earth, said:

"It's taken almost three years to get to the final stage of our freedom of information request, which is far too long for adequate democratic oversight of the influence that major lobby groups can have on Government decision making. That Digby Jones is now a minister says a lot about how close government and lobbyists can become whilst the public is left outside."

Friends of the Earth is a founding member of the ALT coalition calling on the Government to pass legislation allowing greater public scrutiny and improving the accountability of Parliament. Its key demands are:

• A mandatory public register of lobbyists, with full financial disclosure
• Truly enforceable ethics rules for all lobbyists
• Enhanced rules on ethics for politicians and public officials on the so-called `revolving-door' syndrome between lobbyists and public bodies; to halt privileged access to decision makers

The CBI enquiry opens on 31 January and is expected to last until 4 February. The results of the hearing will be published four to eight weeks after it closes.

Notes

[1] More info about the coalition is available at:
www.lobbyingtransparency.org/

[2] http://srvwebcms1/resource/reports/easy_listening.pdf (PDF† )

http://srvwebcms1/resource/press_releases/the_cbi_big_claims_little_19072005.html

http://srvwebcms1/resource/reports/hidden_voices.pdf (PDF† )

[3] Members of the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency will give evidence to the Public Administration Select Committee inquiry into lobbying on Thursday 24 January 08, at 10.00 am in the Thatcher Room, Portcullis House.

The Tribunal hearing will be held Procession House, London starting at 10.30 am on 31st January and 1st February and at Court 12, Field House 10.30am February 4th.

†To view PDF files you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these documents from access.adobe.com.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust