Both Parliament’s Speakers are calling for it to be made more difficult to set up parliamentary interest groups following concerns they are being targeted by lobbying groups backed by big money.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Lord McFall, Speakers in the House of Commons and Lords respectively, said those establishing new all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) should have to explain “how and by whom” it is funded. In a letter to the Committee of Standards, they also pressed for such groups to be “struck from the register” if they fail to produce annual accounts.
The letter, dated January 11, followed a Sky News investigation suggesting some APPGs benefited from donations handed over by “registered lobbying agencies”. APPGs are informal interest groups led by MPs and peers that facilitate cross-party work on issues or interests.
