So what will happen to lobbying in the UK going forward? Will they follow the United States' lead where following the Jack Abramoff financial and political corruption scandals in 2006, the political parties proposed various lobbying reforms. This lead to the Senate passing the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act 2007 in January 2007.
The Act covers travel, gifts and lobbying activity and increases disclosure. However, it stopped short of creating an independent ethics panel and requiring big dollar grassroots lobbying campaigns to disclose their spending. The decision on these now moves to the House of Representatives http://www.spinwatch.org/content/view/4086/9/.
The EU, following the announcement of the European Transparency Initiative in 2005, is also undergoing a review of lobbying which could signal that a review of UK lobbying is on the way http://www.spinwatch.org/content/view/4031/9/.
The Act covers travel, gifts and lobbying activity and increases disclosure. However, it stopped short of creating an independent ethics panel and requiring big dollar grassroots lobbying campaigns to disclose their spending. The decision on these now moves to the House of Representatives http://www.spinwatch.org/content/view/4086/9/.
The EU, following the announcement of the European Transparency Initiative in 2005, is also undergoing a review of lobbying which could signal that a review of UK lobbying is on the way http://www.spinwatch.org/content/view/4031/9/.
