How Cameron the crusader against lobbying plunged his snout so deeply into the trough, all you csn see of him are the soles of his Gucci shoes.
In February 2010 in opposition Cameron said:
"I believe that secret corporate lobbying, like the expenses scandal, goes to the heart of why people are so fed up with politics. It arouses people’s worst fears and suspicions about how our political system works, with money buying power, power fishing for money, and a cosy club at the top making decisions in their own interest”.
• In March 2010, several then Members of Parliament were recorded expressing a willingness to use their contacts to lobby Government and Parliament, and were subsequently suspended from Parliament for varying periods on the recommendation of the Standards and Privileges Committee.
• In October 2011, the Defence Secretary Liam Fox resigned when it was alleged that he had breached the Ministerial Code. An investigation conducted by the then Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell concluded that Liam Fox had breached the Ministerial Code.
• In December 2011 Bell Pottinger, a lobbying firm, were filmed boasting that they had direct access to the Prime Minister and other senior Ministers
• In March 2012, Peter Cruddas, the co-treasurer of the Conservative Party was filmed apparently offering access to the Prime Minister in return for donations. He later resigned.
• In April 2012 it was revealed that Frederic Michel, an in-house lobbyist for News Corporation, had been in regular communication with officials at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, including sending texts to the Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt, during the consideration of News International’s bid for BSkyB. Adam Smith, special adviser to the Secretary of State, resig
This week I put down This new Early Day Motion
That this House is appalled at the revelation that the British financial services industry spent 92 million last year lobbying politicians and regulators in an economic war of attrition that has secured a string of policy victories including slashing corporation tax, cutting the value of not-for-profit pension schemes and the dropping of the plan for an industry watchdog; condemns the Coalition's repeated surrenders to the greedy self-serving pressure from lobbyists; and calls for new transparent regulation that will end the present manipulation of the finance industry which favours large firms and cheats millions on modest incomes.
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