Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 10 March 2016
10 Mar 2016 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Lobbying (Scotland) Bill
I do not think that the minister believed a word of that. This is not one of the Parliament’s finest days.
It is a day of mixed feelings for me. In one sense, I am pleased that, three years after I proposed a lobbying transparency bill, the Parliament will at least legislate for some form of regulation of lobbying. However, this is not the robust bill that I envisaged three years ago. My proposed member’s bill sought to open up our democracy and greatly increase transparency and accountability.
From the day when I proposed my bill, I got the impression that the minister would rather stick pins in his eyes than legislate properly to regulate lobbying. We know why. It is in the interests of any Government party that people do not know what is really going on. Who are ministers meeting? What are they meeting about? Who is influencing policy? Who is schmoozing ministers, MSPs, civil servants and special advisers? Who has friends and contacts in the right places, the right businesses and civic society? The public wants to know, and has the right to know, what is done in their name.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott)
Con
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-15870, in the name of Joe FitzPatrick, on the Lobbying (Scotland) Bill. 15:48
The Minister for Parliamentary Business (Joe FitzPatrick)
SNP
In opening this debate, I would like to thank all members for their contributions to the development of the Lobbying (Scotland) Bill, which I hope the Parlia...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
On a scale of one to 10, at which level of transparency does the minister believe the bill sits in comparison with what happens in other jurisdictions?
Joe FitzPatrick
SNP
I think that the bill sits in absolutely the correct place, balancing transparency and proportionality for Scottish circumstances, going back to Helen Eadie’...
Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab)
Lab
I understand what the minister is saying, and none of us would disagree with where he is trying to get to. However, the amendment that was agreed to today me...
Joe FitzPatrick
SNP
We have tried to strike a balance that reflects the work of a constituency member. Certainly, if I am approached by a business that operates in my constituen...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
I do not think that the minister believed a word of that. This is not one of the Parliament’s finest days. It is a day of mixed feelings for me. In one sens...
Joe FitzPatrick
SNP
Prior to the bill’s introduction, ministers have recorded their meetings, which was always a means of having transparency. We are moving towards an election...
Neil Findlay
Lab
The minister is going way off at a tangent. I am up for openness and transparency—the more of it that we have, the better.
Joe FitzPatrick
SNP
Will the member answer my question?
Neil Findlay
Lab
We will come to some of those issues in a moment. The public want to know and have a right to know what is being done in their name. They should know whethe...
Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP)
SNP
I realise that the member did not attend all the committee’s evidence sessions. If he had, he would have heard representatives of the major lobbying organisa...
Neil Findlay
Lab
Excellent, but I bet that none of them put forward the nonsensical amendments that we have seen today. We are hearing about FOI exemptions being used to pre...
Joe FitzPatrick
SNP
For the record, I clarify that it was the late Helen Eadie who requested that the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee pursue an inquiry.
Neil Findlay
Lab
The Government also asked the current convener to host that inquiry, as the minister confirmed in the letter that he sent to me. The bill was watered down t...
Cameron Buchanan (Lothian) (Con)
Con
I will begin by addressing Mr Findlay’s last point—the IOD and other groups are covered by the bill because they are big organisations. It was definitely the...
Neil Findlay
Lab
From the research that I have seen, my understanding is that the IOD is not a big enough organisation to be covered, because it does not have enough employees.
Cameron Buchanan
Con
It might not have enough employees, but it has members, and that is the same sort of thing. I think that we can agree that it is important to have a democra...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Con
We move to the open debate. 16:09
Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP)
SNP
Several references to Helen Eadie have already been made in this debate, and I think that it is a mark of the affection in which she is held that only today ...
Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab)
Lab
I rise to speak in the debate with a feeling of dismay about the bill that we are passing today. I say that as someone who was not initially a supporter of t...
Cameron Buchanan
Con
The level of transparency in our Government and its openness to the public are both crucial aspects of a healthy democracy, which makes it so important that ...
Mary Fee (West Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
Scottish Labour supports the principle of a lobbying bill and the need for the introduction of legislation in this area. Despite voting for it at decision ti...
Joe FitzPatrick
SNP
I welcome the fact that members have subjected the Lobbying (Scotland) Bill to close scrutiny throughout its parliamentary passage, and today has been no dif...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Con
That concludes the debate on the Lobbying (Scotland) Bill.