We are more than half way through the development of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill 2013-14 with the third reading in the House of Commons having taken place on the 9th October. The stages of the Bill and its progress can be found here. Known colloquially as the Lobbying Bill the legislation if passed in its present form will place a great deal of pressure on charities to avoid appearing to challenge manifestos and proposed policies in the period prior to elections. This has been a very controversial piece of legislation as it was created in response to promises from David Cameron to address the lobbying that does take place by well paid companies and individuals acting for commercial interests. The Bill in its current form falls a long way short of the needed comprehensive protection of our Parliamentary system, and at the same time it catches up charities and trade unions that are widely accepted as not being a problem. Indeed in the case of charities, legislation already exists to prevent them from taking part in political processes.

The House of Lords is now undertaking its detailed stages and a great deal of hope rides on the Lords resolving many of the failings of what has become a shoddy piece of legislation. Whilst the House of Lords are responsible for approving legislation and where appropriate amending it, nevertheless it is the House of Commons who are responsible for sending them the best they can. Very few commentators believe that the House of Commons has discharged their responsibility in anything close to an effective manner. Most seem to believe that the Government has attacked charities and trade unions as a diversion from dealing with Parliamentary corruption

When the Lords sends back the legislation to the Commons, hopefully with extensive amendments it is vital that the Commons accepts them before passing the legislation which will then impact charities up and down the country. It is too early to know who will support the changes and who will reject them. What we do know is who supports the bill in its present damaged state. These men and one woman are listed below. All of these legislators give the impression of being committed to supporting charities during election campaigns. We are currently in an election campaign that at least one Sussex constituency believes began in March 2013 and so any attention that these people pay to local charities should be treated with suspicion and an attempt at reverse lobbying. How wonderful if each of these legislators were challenged to account for themselves in the context of the lobbying bill, by each charity that they visit, particularly to find out if they will support amendments to it!. Before listing the 14 Sussex MPs who do support the current version of lobbying bill it is important to acknowledge two MPs who do not. The first is Caroline Lucas who voted against the Bill at the third reading and Stephen Lloyd who abstained or was not present to support the legislation.

The 14 Sussex MPs who chose to vote for the third reading of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill 2013-14 are: Greg Barker, Peter Bottomley, Nick Gibb, Charles Hendry, Nick Herbert, Simon Kirby, Tim Loughton, Francis Maude, Amber Rudd, Henry Smith, Nicholas Soames, Andrew Tyrie and Mike Weatherley all of whom are Conservatives along with Norman Baker who is a Lib Dem. Whilst Charles Hendry will not be standing as a candidate in 2015, he should still explain his actions to local constituents, after all he is accountable for these. As far as I am aware all 13 of the other MPs will be seeking re-election. One of the ways in which they will attempt to prove their suitability for the 5 years ahead is to visit charities and express a sense of shared endeavour with them. This attempt to curry favour and win over potential voters must not go unchallenged. Let’s ask these MPs why they only want to see charities when it suits them and they would rather not hear from them when it doesn’t?