Bring WhatsApp out of the dark and make MPs messages part of the lobbying register
Successive lobbying scandals have eaten away at our faith in our politics and elections, all messages whether that be on WhatsApp or by owl-post, should be subject to lobbying rules, writes Alastair McCapra.
After a seemingly never-ending string of scandals, lobbying is back on MPs’ agendas with both the government and the opposition proposing measures to overhaul the rules. Ahead of a general election, this will undoubtedly impact businesses planning their political engagement strategies.
Reform is overdue. After all, each successive scandal further erodes public confidence in the political system. At its heart, the problem is one of transparency. The 2014 Lobbying Act introduced a register to increase transparency by publicly recording the efforts to influence policymakers. Lobbying would now be done in the open – or so ran the theory.
Theory and reality quickly deviated: only third-party, consultant lobbyists are allowed to register, and there are so many exemptions that 95 per cent of lobbying activity in Westminster is unregistered, according to Transparency International.
Where the political parties could once claim that lobbying is not a concern raised on the doorstep, it is becoming clear that the issue will increasingly determine whether the door is even opened for canvassers come election time. Polling published earlier this year, conducted by Opinium, found that around 75 percent of voters have less confidence in the political system because of reported scandals.
Last month the government published its long-awaited response to proposed reforms announcing plans to require government departments and civil servants to publish more information more regularly. Lobbyists already on the register, meanwhile, will be required to disclose more details about clients. That is not enough.
Given the lobbying register is a mere shadow of what it should be, requiring those already registered to provide a bit more information is a perfect example of repeating the same thing and expecting a different result.
Under the plans, there will still be no obligation for those employed in-house to record their lobbying activity. The government has also declared that it “does not believe that transparency obligations should include letters, WhatsApp messages, impromptu phone calls or emails.” A string of recent scandals, including the Greensill fiasco, was conducted via the encrypted messaging app.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party has proposed banning ministers from becoming a lobbyist for five years after leaving office under their new ethics and integrity commission to oversee ministers’ behaviour. These proposals are welcome but do little to address the needed change in culture around transparency and accountability currently in lobbying.
Both parties have started to address the issue, but there is still widespread apathy. Since the last election, during which time the legislature has been rocked by allegations of unethical lobbying, three-quarters of MPs have remained silent on the issue, according to research published by the CIPR. We have a real opportunity to get this right but, regrettably, these latest proposals do not go far enough.
Lobbying is a force for good and has been at the vanguard of progressive change throughout history. The solution to the growth of unethical lobbying, and restoring the public’s confidence, is more transparency: extending the register to capture all lobbying activity on behalf of a company, be it through email, WhatsApp or letter. This solution has eluded both parties. Until we have a proper register, the never-ending scandal will sadly continue.