Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: il Guardian contro la Camera dei Lord

Vediamo un po' chi la vince. Stando al record del Guardian, la
popolarita' dei Lord e' destinata a crescere. Comunque questa e' la
prima bordata.
 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/nov/08/house-of-lords-passholders-lobbying
 
 
Nearly one in every five staff passholders in the House of Lords is
involved in lobbying, a Guardian survey of newly released figures
reveals.
 
Peers have given parliamentary passes, allowing the wearer to walk the
corridors of Westminster, to 125 individuals who are paid to promote
outside organisations. Companies represented in peers' offices include
BP, the National Farmers' Union and at least eight lobbying
organisations.
 
The disclosures raise fresh questions about the easy access that
lobbyists have to ministers via the upper chamber.
 
It follows the scandal over Liam Fox's close friend Adam Werritty, who
was accused of running a secretly funded lobbying organisation from
the Commons. Fox was forced to resign as defence secretary.
 
The Guardian survey shows that excluding obviously junior outside
interests, such as interns or drivers, 172 of 646 staff working for
lords have lobbying links. Of these, 125 are in roles where they are
either an executive for an outside organisation or work as
professional lobbyists for an outside interest.
 
When a peer applies for a staff pass, he or she is asked to sign a
document verifying the passholder is "genuinely and personally
providing parliamentary secretarial or research assistance to them".
 
The registration form for members' staff makes clear that consultants
can work for peers as long as they name the organisation they are
employed by and any clients for which they personally provide services
that could benefit from privileged access.
 
While there is no suggestion that rules have been broken here, the
roll call of passholders will fuel demands for the system to be
reformed. Passholders include Richard Ritchie, the director of
government affairs for BP, who has been sponsored by the Tory peer
Lord Howard of Rising. Ritchie, a former Tory candidateand assistant
to the late Enoch Powell, is paid by the oil giant to foster links
with government. But on Tuesday night BP said he denied lobbying for
his employer while using the pass, and had insisted that his role in
the house was "personal".
 
Robin Ashby, a defence lobbyist who was stripped of his parliamentary
pass for lobbying, has been given a pass by the former Labour
minister, Lord Moonie. In June 2008, he had a pass given to him by
Lady Harris of Richmond taken away from him and was forced to deny he
had used it to lobby ministers on behalf of defence companies he
represented. In-house lobbyists who have obtained passes include
Edward Taylor, the head of public affairs for Telegraph Media Group,
who is sponsored by Lord Black of Brentwood, the Tory peer and former
communications guru Guy Black. Dorothea Hodge, a self-employed
corporate affairs consultant for the Metropolitan police, has been
sponsored by the Labour peer Lady Amos.
 
Jonathan Isaby, the political director of the Taxpayers' Alliance, has
been sponsored by Lord Flight; James Barrington, a parliamentary
consultant to the Countryside Alliance, has his parliamentary base at
the office of Labour peer Lady Golding.
 
Meanwhile members of numerous evangelical groups have been granted
passes by the bishops and their allies sitting in the House. These
include a pass issued by the Bishop of Manchester to Dr Donald
Horrocks, the head of public affairs for the Evangelical Alliance, two
passes for Christian public affairs officers from the Bishop of
Chester, and a pass from Lady Berridge for Colin Bloom, the director
of the Conservative Christian Fellowship. Paul Lennon, parliamentary
advisor for the anti-abortion group, the Society for the Protection of
Unborn Children, also has parliamentary access, granted by Lady Masham
of Ilton.
 
Lord Oakeshott, the House of Lords reform campaigner, described the
figures as "shocking and depressing" and called for an overhaul of the
system.
 
"Parliament must be a place where we serve the people. It's fine for
charities and campaign groups to work with like- minded MPs and peers
but handing out passes unchecked to associates risks making us look
like a lobbyists' playground," he said.
 
Staff passholders can walk most corridors in the Palace of Westminster
but do not have access to certain designated corridors, restaurants
and bars and the Palace of Westminster library.
 
The handbook on facilities and services for the House of Lords, states
that any peer may apply for up to three passes for secretaries and
research assistants. "Passes can only be granted ... to people who
genuinely and personally provide parliamentary secretarial or research
assistance to the sponsoring member."
 
The House of Lords privileges committee made a move on Tuesday towards
opening up the payments that peers receive from outside companies to
further scrutiny.
 
The committee ordered that members must register the precise source of
each individual payments paid into companies controlled by them.
 
A spokesman for the House of Lords said that the authorities expect
members to abide by the rules. "We would expect that anyone who holds
a pass genuinely provides parliamentary secretarial or research
assistance.
 
"This is not a topic as far as I am aware that is being looked at by
the House of Lords authorities but we do expect members to abide by
the code of conduct."

 involved in lobbying,
 
da quando è un problema, in brittland?

 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/nov/08/house-of-lords-passholders-lobbying
 
 
il Guardian a volte non è molto meglio dell'italico 'Manifesto'...io non mi 
preoccuperei troppo :-))