Lobbying Bill Condemned by Many

Ruth Cadbury Criticises Mary Macleod for Supporting Bill

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Ruth Cadbury, Labour's candidate for the 2015 General Election in the Brentford & Isleworth constituency, has criticised Tory MP Mary Macleod for voting against amendments to a controversial bill on lobbying.

Clauses in the bill, which is claimed by government to be a response to lobbying scandals, have been condemned by charities and campaigning organisations from across the political spectrum including the Women's Institute, the Taxpayers' Alliance, Business for Britain, Oxfam and Amnesty International.  

Ruth Cadbury said "This draconian new bill silences legitimate opposition by imposing an arbitrary limit on how much legitimate interest groups can spend on campaigning, while not placing similar restrictions on corporate interests.  The bill will deny large numbers of people and groups outside politics the chance of having their voices heard on major issues.  The House of Lords passed amendments to these clauses but the government wasted no time in whipping to overturn those amendments. 

On Friday Mary Macleod, the Conservative MP for Brentford and Isleworth voted with the government.  "Once again”, said Ruth Cadbury, “Mary Macleod has put her loyalty to David Cameron above the interests of her constituents. This bill seriously undermines our democratic rights and is more concerned with keeping the Tories in power than curbing the power of lobbyists"

Read more about the "gagging" law on 38degrees

You can contact Cllr Cadbury at: ruth@ruthcadbury.org.uk

January 28, 2014

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