CONDUCT OF LOBBYIST MR CHRIS WHITEHOUSE

That this House is surprised that the lobbyist, Chris Whitehouse, defends his involvement in the disgraced commercially driven charity TOAST on the grounds that it had dozens of parliamentary patrons; notes TOAST's abuse of its relationship with an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) as exposed by The Independent on Sunday in 2008; recalls that the former hon. Member for Norwich North, Ian Gibson, said of the commercial link, that he was absolutely not aware of this connection and was very concerned about the origin of these large donations; further notes an hon. Member from the Labour Party said he never agreed to be a patron of TOAST after being named as such on publicity material; further notes two comments from hon. Members representing the Conservative Party that they were conned and that TOAST should have declared its financial link with commercial firms; is gravely concerned that Chris Whitehouse supports a similar APPG while simultaneously being employed by firms seeking to profit from the obesity crisis including The Cambridge Weight Plan, Nuffield Health and Fox Communications; fears that hon. Members may again be deceived; and calls for new unambiguous regulations to ensure that commercial groups and their lobbyists do not misuse their contacts with All-Party groups.