Lobbying (Scotland) Act 2016

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:43 pm on 20 March 2018.

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Photo of Neil McEvoy Neil McEvoy Independent 2:43, 20 March 2018

The Lobbying (Scotland) Act 2016 is now in force, so that lobbyists in that country will have to be legally registered. The same is true in Ireland, and there is a register in London, but Wales has the weakest lobbying legislation in these islands because your Government has chosen to do nothing. We now have lobbyists co-ordinating complaints against Assembly Members to damage reputations. Media in London have alleged that lobbyists in Cardiff were involved in the complaints that led to Carl Sargeant being sacked. The leader of the opposition has claimed that lobbyists leaked Carl Sargeant's sacking before he even knew about it. Even Ofcom—a competition regulator had to terminate a contract with Deryn, a Welsh lobbying firm, after it admitted breaking the rules. The public are now asking themselves what on earth—what on earth—is going on in this place. Because, from the outside, it looks a mess. Will you now accept that there is a problem with lobbyists here and move quickly to introduce legislation that will legally register them, so we all know who they are and we all know what they're up to?