Lobbyists and Dr Fox  

Tamasin Cave of Spinwatch is right to call for a statutory register of lobbyists. If one had been in place Liam Fox wouldn’t now be twisting in the wind. All three major parties say they all want to see a statutory register and legislation is pencilled in for next year. The consultation promised by the Government cannot come too soon if the Coalition wants to stick to the timetable it has set itself. Fortunately, much of the spade work was done by the Public Administration Select Committee in the last Parliament. Its January 2009 report (see below) set out the essential elements of a statutory register which, crucially, would include  information about contacts between lobbyists and decision makers—essentially, diary records and minutes of meetings. The aim would be to cover all meetings and conversations between decision makers and outside interests. The...