Angela Eagle MP: Don't just delay the Lobbying Bill; scrap it

Shadow Commons Leader Angela Eagle examines the Government's decision to delay it's controversial Lobbying Bill, likening it to the "disgraceful mess" of the Health Bill. Andrew Lansley's half-hearted climbdown on the Lobbying Bill yesterday brought Oscar Wilde's Lady Bracknell to mind. To pause one Bill may be regarded as a misfortune; to pause two looks like carelessness. Why is it that every piece of legislation he's involved in ends up in disaster? Just like the Health bill, the Lobbying Bill has been a disgraceful mess from word go. It might have been drafted on the back of a Lynton Crosby fag packet. It emerged suddenly after a high level meeting between the Prime Minister and Nick Clegg. No one was consulted. No one has been listened to. And it is being rammed through the House with unseemly haste just because the Government wants their sinister gag on third party campaigning in place before the next election. This Bill was supposed to tackle the problem of lobbyists getting undue influence. But what does it actually do? It lets vested interests completely off the hook whilst shutting ordinary people out from having a say in our politics. It let's Lynton lobby for big tobacco at the heart of Number Ten, but stops Cancer Research UK from complaining about it. It really is a Bill that says everything about who David Cameron and his Ministers stand up for. You’d think that Andrew Lansley would have learned from the Health Bill that when absolutely everyone affected by a Bill is opposed to it that there might just be a problem. Perhaps he gets a peculiar enjoyment from being roundly condemned. The Lobbying Bill has created a coalition against it so wide that lobbyists and lobbying transparency campaigners agree that it is inadequate. The TaxPayers’ Alliance and Guido Fawkes are standing with 38 Degrees and Friends of the Earth. The Countryside Alliance is standing with the League Against Cruel Sports. Basically every campaigner or charity who wants to contribute to our national debate is saying that this Bill will gag free speech in the run up to the next election. Yesterday the pressure started to pay off and this out-of-touch Government was forced to promise a pause of six weeks on part two of the Bill to stave off a defeat in the Lords. I just hope that during the latest of his 'listening exercises' Andrew Lansley will finally learn to listen. This Bill as it stands is an illiberal affront to our democracy. It needs significantly amending or better still why not just scrap it and start the whole process again Andrew? And this time why not do it properly? Angela Eagle, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons