Parliamentary Lobbying

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West (Paul Flynn) on securing the debate, which has been a good one. He is a doughty campaigner and several important issues have been raised. Among the many important issues raised by the hon. Member for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire (Simon Hart) was that of unintended consequences. My hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) stressed the importance of the principle of transparency. The hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) made the point that there is a great deal of common ground between politicians in the House, and I shall revert to that. My hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) pointed out that lobbyists fulfil a useful role and that it is the question of regulation that concerns us. I also thank him for introducing us to a word with which I was not familiar—““lobbyacious.”” Finally, we heard, briefly but pithily, from the hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth (George Eustice), who underlined the complexity of the subject and warned us to be careful not to introduce unintended consequences. I hope that Members agree that we should all do our best to establish a genuine consensus in the House on how best to register lobbying activity. It is well worth remembering that how best to regulate lobbyists featured in the manifestos of all three main British political parties during the general election campaign. The Labour party stated:"““We will create a Statutory Register of Lobbyists to ensure complete transparency in their activities.””" The Liberal Democrat manifesto stated that the improper influence of lobbyists should be curbed by"““introducing a statutory register of lobbyists””." Indeed, the Conservative manifesto said:"““We will regulate lobbying through introducing a statutory register of lobbyists and ensuring greater transparency.””" The coalition agreement also has a commitment to a statutory register. I hope that the Minister will indicate when the long-waited consultation paper will see the light of day. I read with interest his interview in the current House magazine, and it was rather unfair of it to refer to him as ““Nick Clegg's babysitter””. [Hon. Members: ““Aah””] I am glad that hon. Members agree that that is a rather unfair description. I dare say that some would prefer to describe the Minister as ““David Cameron's handmaiden.”” In that interview, the Minister alluded to several other constitutional issues, which mean that the register of lobbyists has slipped from the Deputy Prime Minister's initial target of later this year. I sincerely hope that the Minister's work load will not prevent him from keeping his promise of at least a consultation document in the next few weeks. If he could provide us with a publication date today, that would be most helpful. When that consultation document is published, I hope that there will be a widespread debate and that the Government will listen carefully to the views expressed by all.