• The post you are reporting:
   
  Forget Government plans on lobbying reform, here's to the same old sleaze and scandal
  
  It is more than two years since The Independent first began campaigning for lobbying reform.
  
  Now, after yet more grubby scandals that undermine public faith in political institutions, the Government
  
  finally announced it would act.
  
  But scratch the surface of the plans and it is apparent that none of the proposals will eliminate or even
  
  reduce political sleaze. Instead they are a smokescreen for a cynical attack on Labour-supporting unions
  
  (which are at least democratic) while leaving the lobbying industry untouched.
  
  The proposed statutory register of lobbyists will only cover a tiny fraction of the industry. It will not cover
  
  lobbyists who work directly for companies, trade associations or any of the other groups that spend large
  
  amounts of money trying to influence government policy. Only those lobbyists who work for third parties
  
  will be covered and even then the information they will have to publish will be paltry.
  
  They will not have to declare the meeting they arrange with ministers on behalf of their clients, the secret
  
  work done at party conferences will be off limits, and they need not publish what they are lobbying for -
  
  only their client list.

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