UK vows crackdown on lawmaker lobbying

21 Mar 2010, 2:45 pm   -   Source: AAP
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British PM Gordon Brown's Labour party has promised a crackdown on lobbying by ex-ministers after some of its MPs were caught in a newspaper sting.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour party has promised a crackdown on lobbying by ex-ministers after some of its MPs were caught in a newspaper sting, just weeks before an election.

Senior Labour members of parliament (MPs) were filmed by an undercover reporter apparently offering to use their connections with government in return for money - although they all subsequently denied wrongdoing.

The party responded on Sunday by promising tighter regulation on lobbying activities if Brown's government is re-elected in polls expected on May 6.

"There can never be any suggestion that companies and businesses can only speak to government by buying access through MPs or anybody else," a spokesman said.

The revelations, which involved MPs who are set to stand down at the general election, are potentially highly damaging to Brown ahead of the vote.

They also threaten to further undermine the reputation of parliament after a major scandal over MPs' expenses last year.

"Just as the government has ended the old discredited system of self-regulation in MPs' expenses, we need to act now to stop self-regulation of lobbyists and give the public greater confidence in the whole system," the Labour spokesman said.

Among those filmed by The Sunday Times newspaper and Channel Four television was former cabinet minister Stephen Byers, who apparently boasted about how he had changed policy through lobbying his former colleagues.

He allegedly asked for up to STG5,000 ($A8,280) a day for his services and on one occasion claimed to be able to use his friendship with business secretary Peter Mandelson to help his clients' interests.

In a statement, Byers said he had exaggerated his influence to the undercover reporter and had subsequently retracted his claims, adding that he had "never lobbied ministers on behalf of commercial interests".

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