Before I begin my copying and pasting let me say: "I'm agin!!"...
...and as the song says, "and I am not the only one."
Cameron Penny (financial services lobbyist) on 'conservativehome'...
"...we need a lobbying bill that increases transparency by recording everyone who lobbies policymakers and officials and giving statutory backing to a universal code of conduct.
That is not what the Bill before Parliament does."
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/platform/2013/08/cameron-penny.html
The Electoral Commission
"Let us know your views "
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/party-finance/legislation/third-partiespermitted-participants
BUT
As with all things, there may be reasons to be cheerful, depending on your point of view...
The Bill may outlaw the TUC...
"In a few weeks I will address my first TUC annual meeting as general secretary. But if I do so again in 2014 I risk committing a criminal offence. This is because the cost of the congress will take us over the limited ration of dissent the government plans to allow in the 12 months before the 2015 election..."
This government attack on unions will gag charities and campaign groups, too
ALAS...
"...Even informal local groups will be caught up in the new rules. Concerned about fracking in your village? Worried about proposals to close a hospital or build a road? Be very careful, you only have a limited ration of dissent in each constituency, and if you get overdrawn or even lose some receipts then you could face a police investigation. Are you a community group that organises a series of hustings but chooses to exclude extremist party candidates? Sorry, you are now considered to be election campaigners...."
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/18/attack-on-unions-gag-democracyIgnorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
