https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/government-watchdog-calls-lobbying-crackdown

IT is time for a clampdown on lobbying abuses, the government’s ethics adviser said today.

In a report widely welcomed by campaigners, the Ethics and Integrity Commission (EIC) recommended a tenfold increase in amount rule-breaking lobbyists are fined, to £75,000.

The EIC also slammed the system for ensuring transparency by lobbyists as “wholly inadequate.”

The government should urgently create a register of all lobbying activity to replace the current regime, which does not require in-house lobbyists employed by tech giants, arms monopolies and foreign companies to detail their interactions with ministers, the commission said.

Unlock Democracy chief executive Tom Brake backed the report, saying: “The EIC is right — Britain’s lobbying rules are not fit for purpose.

“A single, searchable database bringing together government and lobbyists’ disclosures would be a big win for transparency.

“Instead of today’s fragmented picture, the public would have a clear view of who is lobbying government, on whose behalf and about what.”

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