Government talks tough but often moves slowly on foreign interference in politics
The latest edition of my email newsletter about work in Parliament,A Lord’s Eye View, is out and you can also read it in full below. But if you’d like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as. . .
The latest edition of my email newsletter about work in Parliament,A Lord’s Eye View, is out and you can also read it in full below. But if you’d like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as they are published, sign up now:Welcome to my latest update on work in the House of Lords, this time covering a statement in Parliament about the government’s response to the Rycroft Review into foreign interference in our politics. The Rycroft Review – and the significance of the 1695 Parliamentary Elections ActWe had a short discussion in the House of Lords about the influence of foreign money on British politics, in response to the government announcing its full response to the Rycroft Review on this issue. It’s a very broad topic and I only had five minutes or so speaking time, so this time I zoomed in on three issues:The government is talking about rapid action but when you dig into the details, their plans look very slow moving in some key areas;Although the government rhetoric is about closing loopholes,many remain– and that’s why (although I didn’t have time to go into this) an across-the-board cap on donations is the only real solution; andThe government is still dragging its feet overtidying up election law, leaving a fragmented, complicated mess that makes elections harder to run, more expensive to get right and at risk from mistakes. Here is what I had to say, including why I think the 1695 Parliamentary Elections Act is the perfect example of an empty crisp packet in the middle of a messy bedroom’s floor. I started, though, with a response to the Conservatives complaining that the Labour government is breaking constitutional conventions in not properly consulting over proposed changes to how our elections are run:You can also read the speechin Hansard, and you can find out more about the Rycroft Reviewhere. The government’s response from which I quoted ishere. The Liberal Democrat MP leading on these issues is Lisa Smart, who also has something to say about the government’s plans:In other news from other Lib Dem peers…Previously on this newsletter…Tackling a loophole in lobbying regulation, and a small win on WhatsAppDCMS logs off X: a second Whitehall exitElsewhere from me…Offside: politics meets football in IranThank youI hope you enjoyed reading this, and if you did please do encourage others to take a read too:ShareBest wishes,Mark