TIGHTENING THE RULES

The recent lobbying revelations have once again brought to the forefront the need to clean up British politics. David Cameron said a couple of months ago that the issue of lobbying was 'next big scandal waiting to happen' and he used a recent press conference to set out a five point plan to ensure that something similar to the recent scandal does not occur again.

David Cameron announced:

• 'We’re going to make absolutely sure that ex-Ministers are not allowed to use the contacts and knowledge gained in government for their own private gain.

• We’ll double the time when it’s forbidden for ex-Ministers to lobby government from twelve months to two years.

• We’ll extend to ten years the period during which ex-Ministers must seek advice from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.

• We’ll put that Committee on a statutory basis, so ignoring its advice will be an offence.

• And we’ve also got to put a stop to the practice of one part of government lobbying another part of government.'


Moving forward on this agenda will be a key element of a new Conservative Government's rely agenda.