Hostile foreign countries and others pose a “real risk” of gaining access to and exercising influence through parliamentary groups of all parties (APPG), the Municipal Standards Committee warned.
Calling for reforms to prevent what it described as the “next major parliamentary scandal”, the committee also expressed concern that the dramatic increase in the number of informal inter-party groups also risks “inappropriate influence and access” as they are so difficult to monitor .
The warnings come after an unprecedented MI5 security warning issued to lawmakers and colleagues earlier this year, accusing a lawyer of seeking to improperly influence lawmakers on behalf of China’s ruling Communist Party.
Barry Gardiner received more than £ 500,000 in donations from Christine Lee before the warning was issued.
Giving private evidence to the report, Mayor Sir Lindsay Hoyle said indiscriminate engagement with government officials who may be hostile to the UK’s interests does not adequately address the potential security risks to Parliament.
“I am concerned that we are not combining our security and the threats we face,” Hoyle said in his oral statement on Saturday’s report. “These people are not our friends.
“Some are our friends, but they have intentions and goals, which worries me. If we are not careful, the security implications for the opening of parliament are very, very worrying. “
The report – entitled “All-Party Parliamentary Groups: Improving Governance and Regulation” – came after an investigation earlier this year by the Guardian and Open Democracy, which found that more than £ 13 million had been poured into a growing network of interest groups. MPs from private companies, including health organizations, arms companies and technology companies, which fuels concerns about the potential for back door influence.
The report states that “incorrect access” by paid lobbyists seeking to exert influence through the APPG is a risk that was identified back in 2013, but that the increased transparency introduced since then has not mitigated the risk in a way that on which he hopes.
The threat from hostile overseas countries seeking to exercise discreet influence through the APPG has only developed in recent years, lawmakers added. They said they were convinced by Hoyle’s evidence that this was “a very real risk that needs to be addressed urgently”.
APPG are informal groups representing the interests of MPs and colleagues, from China and Russia to cancer, digital regulation, longevity and jazz. They should be chaired by MPs, but are often run or funded by lobbyists and corporate donors who seek to influence government policy.
The Standards Committee concluded in its report: “We are concerned that if left unchecked, APPGs could represent the next major parliamentary scandal, with businesses effectively buying access and influence from parliamentarians and decision-makers.
MEPs behind the report said municipal authorities should “provide more support” to help parliamentarians look carefully at the benefits offered by foreign governments.
Funding should be made more transparent, while the number of APPGs should be reduced from the current 744, the Standards Committee recommended.
Regulatory enforcement as well as restrictions on group secretariats were also advised to “reduce the risk of incorrect access”.
The chairman of the Standards Committee, Chris Bryant, said the APPG “should never be a last resort to spread influence around corridors of power or pursue commercial interests.”
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“[This] The report is a wake-up call for all of us, “said the Labor MP. “The evidence we have gathered is chilling and points to the urgent need for the house to take action.”
In a statement at the time, Gardiner said he had “kept in touch with our security services for several years about Christine Lee” and that he was confident that the security services, although they had identified definitive misappropriation, channeled through Christine Lee, this does not apply to funding received from my office. “
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