7th January 2016, London - Ahead of today’s parliamentary debate on lobbying transparency, Transparency International UK is calling for MSPs to be forward-thinking and brave by improving the Scottish Government’s Bill.

Steve Goodrich, Senior Research Officer, Transparency International UK said:

“Shining a light on who’s trying to influence policy and legislation strengthens the openness and accountability of Scottish politics. The current lobbying Bill goes halfway to doing this, but it needs to cover a wider range of activity, contact with civil servants and details on spending to meet best practice standards.”

 “Despite claims that this would be burdensome, other countries, including Ireland, Canada and the US, have found ways to make sure that there is a balance between greater political transparency and unnecessary red tape. MSPs should look to these examples to see how the Parliament can strengthen its founding principles and lead the way on political openness in the UK and globally”.

***ENDS***

For more, read our blog here – Lobbying Transparency: MSPs have the chance to show Westminster how it’s done

Contact:

Dominic Kavakeb

dominic.kavakeb@transparency.org.uk

020 3096 7695

079 6456 0340 (out of hours enquiries)