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Adjournment debate on Thursday, 7 January 2010, in the House of Commons, led by Tony Wright. The answering member was Baroness Smith of Basildon.

Lobbying (Whitehall)

Westminster Hall debate on a motion for the adjournment on lobbying in Whitehall. (Relevant documents - Public Administration Select Committee first report of session 2008-09 HC 36, and the Government Response, HC 1058, Session 2008-09).

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
503 c141-66WH 
Session
2009-10
Department
Cabinet Office
Chamber / Committee
Westminster Hall
Related items
Proceeding contributions
John Grogan | 503 c150-3WH (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to make a brief contribution to the debate. As the Select Committee Chairman ...
John Grogan | 503 c166WH (Link to this contribution) I am getting encouraged again, Minister. So, given that she wants universality, does she agree that ...
Show all contributions (36)
John Grogan | 503 c164WH (Link to this contribution) The Minister tempts me. There was a suspicion that the response was watered down with the change of ...
John Grogan | 503 c164WH (Link to this contribution) Could I ask the Minister to be a little stronger? Is she urging all lobbying firms—all multi-client ...
Nick Hurd | 503 c163WH (Link to this contribution) As I understand it, the duty of confidentiality is driven by a code of conduct, which presumably cou...
Nick Hurd | 503 c155-6WH (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship again, Mr. Benton. On behalf of the packed ranks o...
Nick Hurd | 503 c157-8WH (Link to this contribution) I cannot prove or disprove that. I am trying to get across the public perception that the decision w...
Tony Wright | 503 c145-6WH (Link to this contribution) We are responsible. I pause to reflect on the implications. Things have changed. The Government too...
Kelvin Hopkins | 503 c146WH (Link to this contribution) I do not know whether my hon. Friend has received the same intimations as I have. Before the Governm...
Tony Wright | 503 c146-7WH (Link to this contribution) As always, my hon. Friend knows far more about the inner workings of government than I do. I yield t...
Kelvin Hopkins | 503 c147-50WH (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Benton. After the debate, like you, I have to...
Tony Wright | 503 c144WH (Link to this contribution) Well, there is a dark secret that I try not to tell our colleagues.
Kelvin Hopkins | 503 c144WH (Link to this contribution) Is not the problem in Britain twofold, more so than in perhaps any other polity? We have a higher de...
Tony Wright | 503 c144WH (Link to this contribution) That certainly has been the traditional picture here. Fortunately, things are improving. They have i...
Tony Wright | 503 c144-5WH (Link to this contribution) We can just say it quietly to each other here. If my hon. Friend remembers, when the draft Freedom o...
Gordon Prentice | 503 c142WH (Link to this contribution) My Friend mentioned Prince Charles. Does he believe, as I do, that the Prince's lobbying of Governme...
Tony Wright | 503 c142-4WH (Link to this contribution) I am actually quite ambivalent about that. I say that as a great man for openness, freedom of inform...
Tony Wright | 503 c141-2WH (Link to this contribution) I wish I could say that the House is clearly galvanised by this issue, but sadly it is not. I also s...
Kelvin Hopkins | 503 c166WH (Link to this contribution) My fear, which I am afraid the Minister has not reassured me on, is that the big fish I am intereste...
Baroness Smith of Basildon | 503 c166WH (Link to this contribution) That is why I said that universality was so important. We do not want people slipping through the ne...
Baroness Smith of Basildon | 503 c166WH (Link to this contribution) That is one of the biggest questions on the issue. If we do not get this right, the Government have ...
Baroness Smith of Basildon | 503 c166WH (Link to this contribution) I think that I have been really clear on this. It is really helpful if all organisations declare all...
Baroness Smith of Basildon | 503 c164WH (Link to this contribution) That is jumping a little ahead of the game, as that will be a matter for the public affairs council....
Baroness Smith of Basildon | 503 c164-5WH (Link to this contribution) As tempting as my hon. Friend's invitation is, what I have said is on the record. The register shoul...
Gordon Prentice | 503 c165WH (Link to this contribution) This is just on the back of what my friend the Member for Selby said. I do not want to labour the po...
Baroness Smith of Basildon | 503 c165WH (Link to this contribution) I do not really understand why, if the solicitors body thinks that it is appropriate for it to sign ...
Tony Wright | 503 c165WH (Link to this contribution) I am not sure whether this is a carrot question or a stick question, but it is just for the purposes...
Baroness Smith of Basildon | 503 c163-4WH (Link to this contribution) Yes, absolutely. If the organisations wish to change their code of conduct, it is open to them to do...
Baroness Smith of Basildon | 503 c163WH (Link to this contribution) I think that Sir Philip Mawer will look at this. I am not convinced that there is a legal obstructio...
Gordon Prentice | 503 c153-5WH (Link to this contribution) Lord Mandelson, whether or not he is watching the debate, will know what my hon. Friend the Member f...
Baroness Smith of Basildon | 503 c159-62WH (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship yet again, Mr. Benton, and I welcome you to the Ch...
Gordon Prentice | 503 c162WH (Link to this contribution) My friend may be coming on to this point, but I would like her to address the issue of law firms wit...
Kelvin Hopkins | 503 c157WH (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman not agree, though, with the point that I made about the role of Downing stre...
Subjects
Business interests Ethics Members Members' interests Regulation Lobbying
Link
View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk