"Even without the clauses in this bill which could force the everyday activities of all charities, trade unions and civic society organisations to count as election campaigning, it seeks to redefine expenditure for third party campaigning in a way that political parties themselves in the past have said would make it impossible to abide by if the same rules applied to them. The lobbying section of the bill fundamentally misunderstands the nature of lobbying and would simply encourage more lobbying to be conducted under ground. The political and constitutional reform committee has offered the government a lifeline in its suggestion of establishing a special committee to redraft this bill; the Government should seize this with both hands. To fail to do so would make a nonsense of their claims that this is an earnest attempt to legislate for a lobbying register and to properly regulate third-party election campaigning."
Its not only those on the left that are opposing the Government's bill. Commenting on the lobbying bill currently being debated in Parliament next week, Chairman of Conservative Grassroots, Robert Woollard, warned of the chilling effect it could have on British democracy. "The lobbying bill, as it stands, will have a chilling effect on free speech and British democracy. If passed without significant amendments, it will restrict organisations like the Royal British Legion, Conservative Home, Countryside Alliance, Help for Heroes, Wildlife Trust and Poppy Appeal from engaging in legitimate public debate. "We support the principle behind the bill. The Prime Minister is absolutely right that we must have transparency and accountability in our political system, especially in view of recent scandals."
"The protection of free speech in a democratic society is the fundamental duty of every Government. In striving for transparency the Government, and especially the Conservative Party, must not be seen to be stifling or restricting legitimate debate and discussion. The current drafting has a number of flaws, which without amendment, will do more harm than good to our democratic system. Part 2 of the bill does not distinguish between groups that campaign on important public policy matters and the party political campaigning of other groups. We note that the cross-party Political and Constitutional Reform Committee say that this Bill has been ‘unnecessarily rushed’ and conclude in their report that ‘the Bill must not become law in its present form’."
"The protection of free speech in a democratic society is the fundamental duty of every Government. In striving for transparency the Government, and especially the Conservative Party, must not be seen to be stifling or restricting legitimate debate and discussion. The current drafting has a number of flaws, which without amendment, will do more harm than good to our democratic system. Part 2 of the bill does not distinguish between groups that campaign on important public policy matters and the party political campaigning of other groups. We note that the cross-party Political and Constitutional Reform Committee say that this Bill has been ‘unnecessarily rushed’ and conclude in their report that ‘the Bill must not become law in its present form’."
"The Government can resolve many of the issues by exempting charities. These are already prevented from backing a particular political party and are regulated by strict rules overseen by the Charity Commission. The Government should also exempt campaign groups who lobby on single issues like the Cambridge Cycling Campaign or the EEF’s Manufacturing Manifesto. These are not directly aimed at influencing the outcome of an election, but play an important part in the electoral process. The last thing British people want is for political campaigning to be confined to professional politicians. If parliamentarians do not wake up to this reality, the effect on the quality of public debate in this country will be devastating."
