CIPR CEO responds to Lobbyist Register Consultation reports
CIPR Chief Executive Jane Wilson has spoken out about reports that link Government plans to publish a consultation on a statutory register of Lobbyists with the recent resignation of Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP as Secretary of State for Defence.
She said: “We are extremely disappointed that, once again, politicians appear to be pointing the finger at Lobbyists when the political scandal is of their own making. Adam Werrity is a not a lobbyist in the way that the vast majority of public affairs professionals would recognize. Most lobbyists have transparency as a guiding operating principle and are happy to disclose who their clients are.
“We will engage with the Government’s consultation on a register of lobbyists, but I believe that informal lobbying of Ministers by undisclosed interests through opaque networks of party backers, former ministers and political friends will not be eliminated by registering or regulating public affairs professionals.”