Lovebombed by lobbyists: How Labour became the party of Big Business

JVL Introduction

Unlike in Canada, Germany and Scotland for example, an opposition party at Westminster is under no obligation to disclose who has lobbied it as it prepares for power.

Here  openDemocracy reveals that the extraordinary extent to which the Labour Party has welcomed lobbyists from the UK’s most powerful corporations with open arms over the last year and more.

It matters, if you are looking to transform society and the economy.

Tim Bierley of Global Justice Now is clear about the dangers of treating lobbyists as “independent experts” rather than  people trying to boost their clients’ income: “On climate, trade and the economy, the interests of giant corporations are extremely different from the public’s – their outsized influence would blur any visions of progress under Labour.”

Tulip Siddiq, then Labour’s shadow City minister, often shared the views of major financial services industry representative bodies, posting for example that “I have worked closely with TheCityUK and its members in recent years to formulate the Labour Party’s policies for the financial and professional services sector.”

Such close and cosy relationships permeate every aspect of Labour’s policy-making processes as this chilling investigation reveals.

RK (h/t RJ)

This article was originally published by openDemocracy on Tue 9 Jul 2024. Read the original here.