An election law QC has supported NCVO’s fears that proposals in the government’s lobbying bill, which is due for its second reading in the Commons tomorrow, could gag charities from speaking out about the issues that concern them.
The umbrella body recently wrote to Cabinet Office minister Chloë Smith to express its concern about proposals in the bill on ‘non-party campaigning’, in a letter supported by a coalition of charities including the Royal British Legion, Oxfam, and the Salvation Army.
Smith, in turn, labelled concerns about the bill “scaremongering”.
Now Helen Mountfield QC has given her weight to NCVO’s argument against Part II of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill, saying that the restrictions and restraints “are so wide and so burdensome as arguably to amount to a disproportionate restraint on freedom of expression”.
Mountfield wrote in an opinion letter: “Uncertainty about what the law requires is likely to have a chilling effect on freedom of expression, putting small organisations and their trustees and directors in fear of criminal penalty if they speak out on matters of public interest and concern.”
“The proposals are likely to impose extensive and expensive audit and recording requirements on charities and community groups in relation to a wide range of activities. Charities may even have to account to the Electoral Commission for volunteers’ time.”
The QC from Matrix Chambers added that the legislation may even fall foul of freedom-of-expression rights. Her full opinion is available here.
Wilding: government should put proposals on hold
Karl Wilding, director of public policy at NCVO, said that the new rules are so complex and unclear that they will be challenging if not impossible for charities and community groups to follow.
“This bill takes us from a situation in which organisations largely understood the rules on what they could do, into a position where no one has any idea what the rules are, but may nevertheless face criminal prosecution for getting them wrong,” said Wilding. “This is the inevitable consequence of rushing legislation through without any consultation.
“I would like the government to give serious consideration to putting its proposals on hold. This would give them the chance to consult properly on a solution that addresses concerns about undue influence in politics without the risk of sweeping every charity and community group in the country into a deeply burdensome bureaucratic regime.”
NCVO has provided a copy of the QC's advice to the Cabinet Office and to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee, which is examining the bill.
Electoral Commission ‘has doubts about bill’
NCVO also pointed to the opinion of the Electoral Commission, which expressed doubts about the viability of the proposals in a briefing for MPs published last Thursday. Its briefing said that there will be “a lot of complexity and uncertainty for those who may be covered by the rules”.
It is this Commission that would be responsible for enforcing the rules, and it said that even if it provided advice to charities on what they could do, they could still not act with certainty, as their advice and opinion could be challenged by others. (You can read this statement in full here.)
In addition, the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (Nicva) has contacted all Northern Ireland MPs to highlight the excesses in the bill and seek their support "in defending the freedoms of ordinary people and their ability to lobby politicians in a free, fair and unfettered way".
