Recently I got an e-mail about lobbying transparency from William Goring who runs iwishiknew.org. William has written to all the Prospective Parliamentary Candidates in Reading East about the 38Degrees lobbying pledge which calls for a statutory register of lobbying activity.
Of the 4 candidates in Reading East that William wrote to, only 2 – including myself – actually signed the pledge (you can read all about it at his site), but in particular I was happy to point out that many years ago I was personally involved in campaigning and winning support within the Liberal Democrats for a compulsory register of lobbying activity. Thankfully, William thought that mine was:
… the best of a good bunch of responses.
But transparency in Government goes further than lobbying, especially considering the recent expenses scandal, and that is why I backed the Kelly Report on the reform of MPs’ expenses in full and why I openly pledged not to take a second home as Reading East’s MP, and why I also committed to publishing all my expenses.
I have also pledged to be a full-time MP with no second jobs or directorships…. can that be said of the others?
