Lobbying Transparency (In-house Lobbyists) Bill [HL]

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 3rd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Lab)]

My Lords, I am pleased to add my support to my noble friend Lady Hayter of Kentish Town. We need more lobbying transparency in the Lords.

We have been here before. My noble friend encouraged me to table a Private Member’s Bill on this topic back in 2016. I remind the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, that we managed to get it through. The noble Lord contributed significantly, with many amendments. I look forward to seeing him do that again, and to him giving support to try to get this Bill on to the statute book.

We had the Second Reading of my Bill on 9 September 2016. It endeavoured to build on the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014, which had its deficiencies. It is very important indeed, in the light of what happened with Covid, that we are back on this topic. I am not going to speak at great length. If anybody wants any great justification from me for supporting this, I suggest they look at the Hansard for 2016, which I have recently refreshed myself on. I read many of the speeches again.

The case is compelling and I believe that we have heard a general movement towards support for the Bill as this debate has proceeded, even though the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, was rather more strident in her opposition than her counterpart was back in 2016. I hope that she will be prepared to move her ground a little bit, because change is needed. Transparency is needed. We need to build that trust. The House of Lords is certainly out of step with the Commons, Scotland and Europe, and well out of step, as demonstrated by the previous speaker, with what happens in the United States. I hope that we can see a coming together and that this time around it will be different because—I will conclude on this—we have a different Government in power.

I have a question to my Front-Bench colleague. I hope she will indicate that this Government will support this Private Member’s Bill. It seeks a modest change. At a minimum, if the Minister cannot say that she will embrace it totally, I hope she will be prepared to indicate the way in which we can take the substance and principles of this change and add it to other legislation that may be in prospect, to ensure that we have greater transparency and accountability in the Lords than we have at the moment.