Tribunal orders disclosure of lobbying activity

Clare O’Connor 02-May-08

The government has today been ordered to disclose records of lobbying efforts by a business interest group in a precedent-setting case.

An information tribunal has today ruled that the Department for Business, Enterprise and Reform (BERR) must release details of monthly meetings between secretary of state Alan Johnson and former CBI director general Digby Jones.

The tribunal decided that the disputed records of lobbying meetings between BERR - then called the Department for Trade and Industry - and the CBI must be released because of ‘a strong public interest in understanding how lobbyists influence government.'

Environmental charity Friends of the Earth is calling for a Public Administration Select Committee inquiry into lobbying following today's decision.

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