Tory MP criticises lobbyists over use of EDMs

Graham Evans MP

Conservative MP Graham Evans is behind the campaign – somewhat ironically launched via an EDM – saying that they have little influence on policy, are poor value for money and generate a ‘huge volume’ of unnecessary correspondence.
‘Regretting’ the decline in their importance, his EDM also accuses PA professionals of being aware of their ineffectiveness, but of using them to ‘attempt to justify their services’.
Jonathan Sheppard, a former Tory parliamentary candidate and lobbyist and founder of the website www.scrapedms.com (PAN, Aug 09), described Evans’ move as “wonderfully brave”.
Sheppard told PAN that EDMs cost a lot and deliver very little, with “lazy lobbyists”, backed up by some MPs, “who seem to be wedded to signing them”, exploiting the system. He said they were often used to make it appear to constituents that MPs were bringing local concerns to the attention of Parliament.
In reality, Sheppard said, the result was often only “a press release [delivered] on the back of an expensive public mechanism”.
Darren Caplan, director of B2L Public Affairs and a Tory parliamentary candidate at May’s election, described EDMs as “a valid demonstration of parliamentary opinion”, and “very relevant” to campaigning. He said the more important question was the form and expense of the process. Admitting that the cost to the taxpayer was high, he said there was “no reason why they shouldn’t be in electronic form”.   
He added that the suggestion that MPs were under the spell of lobbyists was a “real bugbear – it’s up to MPs to decide which issues to campaign on”.
Anything that can be used to identify the strength of support for an issue, he said, “must be a good thing”.
One PA industry figure described EDMs as “parliamentary graffiti – sometimes useful for PR purposes but not really of great importance”.
Nevertheless, EDMs occasionally attract strong cross-party support, for example in the case of Labour MP Michael Meacher’s call for a climate-change bill in 2005.
His proposition attracted some 412 of the-then 646 members of the Commons to sign in support of the EDM, which ultimately took legislative shape in the form of the Climate Change Act 2008.
As PAN's August edition went to press, Evans’ EDM had gathered 23 signatories.
The MP told PAN stablemate The House Magazine: “A large number of MPs’ staff, for whom EDMs are the bane of their lives, have written to offer support. One or two MPs, the more notorious tablers of EDMs, aren’t big fans, but a member of the backbench business committee has been in touch to confirm that the committee will discuss the issue.”

The EDM to shake up EDMs...
‘That this House regrets the continuing decline in importance of early-day motions, which have become a campaign tool for external organisations; notes the role of public affairs professionals in drafting early-day motions and encouraging members of the organisations they represent to send pro forma emails and postcards to hon. Members; further notes the huge volume of correspondence that this generates and the consequent office and postage costs incurred; believes that the organisations involved derive little benefit from early-day motions, which very rarely have any influence on policy; further believes that public affairs professionals are aware of the ineffectiveness of early-day motions, but continue to use them to attempt to justify their services; questions the value for money to the taxpayer of early-day motions of whatever origin; and calls for the system of early-day motions to be reformed or abolished.’

30th July 2010 by Kevin McCann