Text messages, emojis and favours aren’t exactly what Parliament has in mind when it comes to lobbying. Although entirely legitimate, there have been some problems.
Transparency and openness are key when it comes to lobbying. Without it you end up with a government based on favours and ‘I owe U’s’.
The principle of lobbying is where charities, organisations, businesses, groups and individuals approach the government and aim to persuade decisions surrounding policies. They can go about this by sending a letter or email, having phone calls and even speaking in Parliament. What’s important is openness and transparency.
“exercised by sending 45 messages to a variety of ministers including Rishi Sunak”
David Cameron and Greensill
Two years after leaving office, David Cameron began working with Greensill Capital. In 2020 the former Prime Minister lobbied government members to join a scheme called Corporate Covid Financing Facility. This scheme was set up to issue loans to help firms during the pandemic, although more recently the company has collapsed.
Lex Greensill was involved with David Cameron during his time in office when becoming an adviser. Mr Cameron defended this involvement by saying that he “met him twice at most in the entirety of my time as prime minister”.
Mr Cameron entered into the practice of lobbying by sending 45 messages to a variety of ministers including Chancellor Rishi Sunak between 5 March and 26 June 2020. He earned further criticism after signing off some of these texts with “Love, Dc“.
“In both these cases, the lack of transparency was crystal clear.”
Boris Johnson and Sir James Dyson
The lobbying scandal continues, with not only a former Prime Minister involved, but the current Prime Minister too. It was not unknown that in the early stages of the pandemic, there were high demands on the NHS with shortages of PPE and ventilators in the U.K. After first contacting Sir James Dyson to help with the additional equipment, when Dyson received no response from the Treasury he messaged the PM directly.
One message from Mr Johnson reads, “Rishi says it is fixed!! We need you here.” Upon a need of reassurance over tax issues he responds to Dyson saying, “James I am First Lord of the Treasury and you can take it that we are backing you to do what you need”.
Commenting on this exchange, Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves said there was, “a growing feeling that if someone has access to a telephone number of someone like the prime minister or the chancellor, then they are able to gain special treatment.”
Transparency and The Future of Lobbying
In both these cases, the lack of transparency was crystal clear.
“Prohibited” from lobbying two years after leaving office, Ministers must abide by the Ministerial Code. This ban may yet increase after the anti-corruption watchdog have said this “may be too short in some cases”.
The Committee for Standards of Public Life published their interim findings which suggested that, “Government departments and ACOBA should be able to issue a lobbying ban for a longer period of up to five years where they deem it appropriate.”. This ban therefore will be subject to the nature of the role of the government member and the seniority.
Whether you deem lobbying to be a fair or unfair practice, it’s evident these informalities have been catalytic.
Neve Gordon-Farleigh
Image courtesy of Yaopey Yong on Unsplash. No changes or alterations were made to this image. Image license can be found here.
Neve Gordon-Farleigh
Neve is a 21 year old freelance journalist, and our Head Current Affairs and Instagram Editor for Empoword Journalism. She specialises in social media journalism and runs the Journo Resources Tik Tok page. You can find her on Twitter @Neve_GF.