The PR company Bell Pottinger’s offer to boost the reputation of Uzbekistan – by pulling a few tricks online – lays bare the shameless world of lobbying.
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Do you want to know the single biggest secret of lobbying?
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It is that most of it is like taking candy from a child.
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We get very exercised by lobbying.
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Shady conspiracies; the “dark arts”; secret access: all the phrases most redolent of corruption easily attach themselves to lobbyists – and sometimes, quite rightly.
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The “cash for questions” scandal, in which Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith, two Conservative MPs, were found to have been paid cash by a lobbyist, Ian Greer, to ask questions in Parliament on behalf of Mohamed Fayed was as straightforward an example of corruption as you could imagine.
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But however awful some of the exposés may be, the big secret of lobbying is that most of it is all mouth and no trousers – a big boast based on very little.
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Many of the clients who hand over small fortunes to lobby companies are being royally fleeced, simply because the world of Whitehall and politics is so alien and seems far too daunting to be approached without the guiding hand of a lobbyist.
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Take the latest exposé, by the Orwellian-sounding Bureau of Investigative Journalism (in reality, an offshoot of the City University school of journalism).
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Undercover journalists posed as representatives of the government of Uzbekistan, one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world.
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Quite apart from the ethics of acting on behalf of such a government, what’s intriguing is the sheer brass neck of Bell Pottinger, the lobby company in question, for what it said it could do for the Uzbekistanis.
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Bell Pottinger could, it claimed, manipulate search results on Google to “drown out” negative coverage of Uzbekistan’s human rights violations and child labour.
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It has a team that “sorts” negative Wikipedia coverage of its clients.
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And it could secure access to the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, to David Cameron’s chief of staff Ed Llewellyn and to Mr Cameron’s closest adviser, Steve Hilton.
Report that straight and it reeks of corruption and sleaze.
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But here’s what I mean by the big secret. Bell Pottinger is – like many lobby companies – pulling a fast one.
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Take “drowning out” Google.
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There’s no special trick here, available only to Bell Pottinger’s lucky clients.
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It is simply doing what is known as Search Engine Optimisation.
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Any newspaper with a website does it.
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You want to make sure that your story is high up on Google’s search results, so you make sure it has key words that score well with Google’s web creepers.
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I’m about the world’s least technical person and even I know how to do it.
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Bell Pottinger’s claim of some special ability to do this – to give other stories a higher profile on Google than those that damage its client –
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Is a perfect example of the boastful nonsense on which so much lobbying is based.
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As for “sorting” negative entries on Wikipedia – hello?
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The whole point of Wikipedia is that anyone – anyone! – can edit entries.
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You can do it.
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I can do it.
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Nothing better illustrates the money-for-old-rope aspect of the trade than the notion that a lobby company might be hired by a foreign government to edit its Wikipedia entry.
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You might just as well hire a computer-literate eight-year-old.
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Things get more nuanced when it comes to access.
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When a lobby company boasts about its welcome in high places, it’s easy to see blatant corruption.
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And that can be true.
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David Cameron said he would tackle lobbying when he was elected leader of the Conservative Party.
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Last year he said it was “the next big scandal waiting to happen” that “has tainted our politics for too long, an issue that exposes the far-too-cosy relationship between politics, government, business and money”.
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He wanted, he said, to “shine the light of transparency” on lobbying so that politics “comes clean about who is buying power and influence”.
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What could illustrate that more than Bell Pottinger’s claims about the access it could secure in return for a foreign government’s cash?
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The idea that any client who is paying a lobbyist can gain access denied to others would strike almost anyone as wrong.
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But it’s important to establish exactly what lobbyists claim to be able to do and what they charge for.
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You’re a widget manufacturer. You have a particular problem with a government decision that stops you competing with foreign manufacturers.
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You don’t have a clue how Whitehall works and wouldn’t know where to start in trying to get decisions changed.
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So you get in touch with a lobbying firm.
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Let’s call it Boaste, Grabbit and Runne.
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Its managing partner was at college with the minister, the firm tells you, and they speak all the time.
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For a small fee – say £10,000 to sign on and a monthly £3,000 retainer – it will happily get in touch with the minister and set up a meeting.
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You come to London and meet the minister; he’s all ears.
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He had no idea that the law was affecting your industry so badly.
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He promises to get something done.
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You’re thrilled.
.
But here’s what I mean by the big secret. Bell Pottinger is – like many lobby companies – pulling a fast one.
.
Take “drowning out” Google.
.
There’s no special trick here, available only to Bell Pottinger’s lucky clients.
.
It is simply doing what is known as Search Engine Optimisation.
.
Any newspaper with a website does it.
.
You want to make sure that your story is high up on Google’s search results, so you make sure it has key words that score well with Google’s web creepers.
.
I’m about the world’s least technical person and even I know how to do it.
.
Bell Pottinger’s claim of some special ability to do this – to give other stories a higher profile on Google than those that damage its client –
.
Is a perfect example of the boastful nonsense on which so much lobbying is based.
.
As for “sorting” negative entries on Wikipedia – hello?
.
The whole point of Wikipedia is that anyone – anyone! – can edit entries.
.
You can do it.
.
I can do it.
.
Nothing better illustrates the money-for-old-rope aspect of the trade than the notion that a lobby company might be hired by a foreign government to edit its Wikipedia entry.
.
You might just as well hire a computer-literate eight-year-old.
.
Things get more nuanced when it comes to access.
.
When a lobby company boasts about its welcome in high places, it’s easy to see blatant corruption.
.
And that can be true.
.
David Cameron said he would tackle lobbying when he was elected leader of the Conservative Party.
.
Last year he said it was “the next big scandal waiting to happen” that “has tainted our politics for too long, an issue that exposes the far-too-cosy relationship between politics, government, business and money”.
.
He wanted, he said, to “shine the light of transparency” on lobbying so that politics “comes clean about who is buying power and influence”.
.
What could illustrate that more than Bell Pottinger’s claims about the access it could secure in return for a foreign government’s cash?
.
The idea that any client who is paying a lobbyist can gain access denied to others would strike almost anyone as wrong.
.
But it’s important to establish exactly what lobbyists claim to be able to do and what they charge for.
.
You’re a widget manufacturer. You have a particular problem with a government decision that stops you competing with foreign manufacturers.
.
You don’t have a clue how Whitehall works and wouldn’t know where to start in trying to get decisions changed.
.
So you get in touch with a lobbying firm.
.
Let’s call it Boaste, Grabbit and Runne.
.
Its managing partner was at college with the minister, the firm tells you, and they speak all the time.
.
For a small fee – say £10,000 to sign on and a monthly £3,000 retainer – it will happily get in touch with the minister and set up a meeting.
.
You come to London and meet the minister; he’s all ears.
.
He had no idea that the law was affecting your industry so badly.
.
He promises to get something done.
.
You’re thrilled.
.
It was money well spent.
.
Well, you’ve been had.
.
The lobbyist might well be a friend, but the minister would have been happy to see you anyway, friend or no friend.
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Most ministers want nothing more than to be seen doing something practical for British industry.
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If you’d written directly to him – or even just called up his office – and explained what your issue was, the chances are you could have had your meeting and got the same result.
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You might still think it was worth paying the lobbyist.
.
He has done the legwork and smoothed your path.
.
But is that corruption?
.
Or merely a highly paid form of secretarial work?
.
That’s the problem.
.
The black and white cases – cash for questions – are easy.
.
But more often it’s shades of grey.
.
Because politics is all about talking.
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It’s about meetings.
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It’s about who knows who.
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And to someone on the outside of those meetings, who doesn’t know anyone, it can indeed be a closed door.
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That is why lobby companies hire former ministers and MPs such as Tim Collins, now the managing director of Bell Pottinger Public Affairs.
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They know people.
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Mr Collins might be acting like a snake-oil salesman when he makes claims about Google and Wikipedia, but he was telling the truth when he claimed “I’ve been working with people like Steve Hilton, David Cameron, George Osborne for 20 years”.
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As a Conservative Party staffer and MP, he has.
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So yes, he knows them well.
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But think about one of his boasts, when he claimed that his influence on the Prime Minister led to an issue being raised with the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao during a state visit in June 2011.
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“We were rung up at 2.30 on a Friday afternoon, by one of our clients, Dyson,” Mr Collins explained.
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“He said, 'We’ve got a huge issue and that is that a lot of our products are being ripped off in China’ …
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On the Saturday David Cameron raised it with the Chinese prime minister…
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He [Cameron] was doing it because we asked him to do it.”
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Really?
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It’s likely that Mr Cameron was indeed made aware of the issue by Mr Collins.
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But surely that’s exactly the sort of thing a British prime minister should raise in a bilateral meeting with the Chinese.
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So again, it’s not black and white. Mr Dyson pays Bell Pottinger because he is a businessman, not a politician, and doesn’t know his way around Whitehall.
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The company raised, on his behalf, a big issue for him – and also for the nation.
.
We might not like the smell of such contacts, but it’s difficult to see what the real harm is.
.
That would arise if Bell Pottinger – or any other lobbyist – was able to procure favours for clients that go against the national interest, or to secure an advantage solely through having paid for a favour.
.
But we’ve not seen the evidence for that.
.
Yet.............................!
It was money well spent.
.
Well, you’ve been had.
.
The lobbyist might well be a friend, but the minister would have been happy to see you anyway, friend or no friend.
.
Most ministers want nothing more than to be seen doing something practical for British industry.
.
If you’d written directly to him – or even just called up his office – and explained what your issue was, the chances are you could have had your meeting and got the same result.
.
You might still think it was worth paying the lobbyist.
.
He has done the legwork and smoothed your path.
.
But is that corruption?
.
Or merely a highly paid form of secretarial work?
.
That’s the problem.
.
The black and white cases – cash for questions – are easy.
.
But more often it’s shades of grey.
.
Because politics is all about talking.
.
It’s about meetings.
.
It’s about who knows who.
.
And to someone on the outside of those meetings, who doesn’t know anyone, it can indeed be a closed door.
.
That is why lobby companies hire former ministers and MPs such as Tim Collins, now the managing director of Bell Pottinger Public Affairs.
.
They know people.
.
Mr Collins might be acting like a snake-oil salesman when he makes claims about Google and Wikipedia, but he was telling the truth when he claimed “I’ve been working with people like Steve Hilton, David Cameron, George Osborne for 20 years”.
.
As a Conservative Party staffer and MP, he has.
.
So yes, he knows them well.
.
But think about one of his boasts, when he claimed that his influence on the Prime Minister led to an issue being raised with the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao during a state visit in June 2011.
.
“We were rung up at 2.30 on a Friday afternoon, by one of our clients, Dyson,” Mr Collins explained.
.
“He said, 'We’ve got a huge issue and that is that a lot of our products are being ripped off in China’ …
.
On the Saturday David Cameron raised it with the Chinese prime minister…
.
He [Cameron] was doing it because we asked him to do it.”
.
Really?
.
It’s likely that Mr Cameron was indeed made aware of the issue by Mr Collins.
.
But surely that’s exactly the sort of thing a British prime minister should raise in a bilateral meeting with the Chinese.
.
So again, it’s not black and white. Mr Dyson pays Bell Pottinger because he is a businessman, not a politician, and doesn’t know his way around Whitehall.
.
The company raised, on his behalf, a big issue for him – and also for the nation.
.
We might not like the smell of such contacts, but it’s difficult to see what the real harm is.
.
That would arise if Bell Pottinger – or any other lobbyist – was able to procure favours for clients that go against the national interest, or to secure an advantage solely through having paid for a favour.
.
But we’ve not seen the evidence for that.
.
Yet.............................!
Stephen Pollard
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