REGULATION OF LOBBYING

<p style="margin: 0mm 0mm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">That this House notes that the new register of lobbyists published on 1 March 2011 by the fledgling UK Public Affairs Council was riddled with errors, omissions, inconsistencies and redactions; further notes that it includes the entries of only a very small percentage of the thousands of lobbyists who should be registered and that it includes substantially less information than many registrants would have wished; believes that the Council's failure to deal with registration in an open, transparent, comprehensive and professional manner demonstrates beyond all reasonable doubt that the consistency and clarity of statutory regulation is now the only appropriate course of action; and invites the Coalition Government to bring forward legislation to regulate the lobbying profession without further delay.</font></p>