The Prime Minister was on to something when as Leader of the Opposition he said that lobbying was ‘the next big scandal waiting to happen.’ But the Lobbying Bill’s methods are suspect. It would silence grass roots campaigners while allowing politicians to dictate the terms of debate. It would limit the activity of civil society organisations that stand between the power of the state the freedom of the individual. The Lobbying Bill might be good politics but as it stands it would be bad law.
The bill places a national cap on campaign expenditure from any one non-party organisation or coalition of organisations. It places a constituency-specific cap of £9,750 on such expenditure too. And it forces campaigners to take on a wad of bureaucracy in order to prove that they remain at heel. The proposed demands on campaigners, by the way, are more onerous than those made of political parties.
This arsenal of hyper-regulation is regrettable in and of itself, but the weaponry will fail to hit its targets.
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