MP rebuffed lobbyist’s plan for parliamentary group funded by drinks firms
An MP rejected an approach from a lobbyist group who told her it planned to set up an all party parliamentary group for the night-time economy, which was to be sponsored by alcohol firms.
Alison Thewliss said it was “unusual” to be propositioned by lobbyists rather than an MP, even if there may have been merit in such a cross-party group.
The MP was speaking after it was revealed last week that more than £13m has been poured into a growing network of MPs’ interest groups by private firms – fuelling concerns over the potential for backdoor influence.
In emails to Thewliss in 2019, a lobby group called Connect Communications said sponsorship was needed “to make the group viable”.
One read: “We’re very keen to get it off the ground and hope to have you involved … We’ll keep you updated as we gage [sic] interest from other MPs, and once we begin talking to external organisations about sponsorship.”
Connect Communications, which is co-owned and run by the former Labour MP Andy Sawford, currently runs 15 APPG secretariats. The secretariats of APPGs, of which there are now 755, arrange meetings and trips for members and sometimes cultivate potential funders.
A spokesperson for the company said: “In 2019, there was an initiative from parliamentarians and outside organisations to form an APPG on the night-time economy and Connect were involved in these discussions.
“Connect offered to provide secretariat services, to support good practice and compliance with the rules on APPGs, although this was not taken forward and we are not involved.”
A night-time economy APPG was subsequently established with the help of a different lobbying firm, Tendo Consulting.
The APPG received more than £7,500 worth of “benefits in kind” from the Night Time
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