Meeting for Sufferings: Friends and the Lobbying Act
Trustees discussed whether to register Britain Yearly Meeting for the Lobbying Act
Trustees met during the lunch break at Meeting for Sufferings to decide whether to register Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) for the Lobbying Act.
The Act is known in full as the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014. It requires organisations to register as non-party campaigners if spending over a certain amount on campaigning activities that could influence how people vote.
The threshold is £319,800 per annum in England, £55,400 in Scotland and £44,000 in Wales.
A statement was released on Monday 8 December confirming that Britain Yearly Meeting had concerns over the Lobbying Act, but that it would register.
Clerk of trustees Jennifer Barraclough said: ‘Not registering would support our belief that it is not for government to place limits on a political campaign that springs from our understanding of God’s will: but registering is a proper expression of our belief in the rightness of transparency in our dealings.’
Responsibility for the decision lay with the trustees, but they thanked Sufferings for providing a Meeting for Clearness.
All of those who ministered at Sufferings felt that Britain Yearly Meeting should register for the Lobbying Act. Some expressed reservations, including concerns that the need to stay beneath the financial threshold might curtail campaigning.
A Friend said: ‘We will go over the legal limit if moved to do so. We must make a strong statement of our feelings regarding any attempt to stop us from speaking to power.’
Another said: ‘By registering, we will be helping the law bear down on unjust lobbyists who are doing their best to ruin society.’
There were also concerns that the second part of the Lobbying Act, dealing with charities and trade unions, might be ignored. A Friend stressed that the Act is not just about spending, but can involve the Electoral Commission suspending campaigning deemed prejudicial to the interests of a particular candidate.
The same Friend felt that BYM needed to ensure that Local Meetings would not be in trouble if they joined with other local campaigns, incurring higher joint campaign costs.
A Friend asked whether it was possible to register, then to deregister later. BYM parliamentary engagement officer Jessica Metheringham answered: ‘We are not sure. The assumption is that if we register but do not meet the threshold, we can deregister. But if we wish to make a change to our decision to register, we can’t.’
Jessica was also asked what would happen if Friends hit the financial threshold. She said: ‘The Electoral Commission has the power to require that we desist from any campaign which they suspect will take us over the limit. They will warn us. If we deliberately go over, we assume they will take us to court, if we have been wilful, rather than making a mistake. This is a new law – there is no precedent.’
A Friend expressed her uneasiness with the boundaries of the Act. ‘Something keeps nagging at me. We have the law as it is. It deals with vague, complex issues and yet they have been expressed in terms of money. I know that’s how the world works now, but somehow the parameters being offered are clouding the issue,’ she said.
Breaking the law concerned another Friend. She said: ‘There are times when Quakers may wish to break the law. I would prefer it to be on peace, justice or sustainability – the issues we are lobbying about, not the Lobbying Act itself.’
Sufferings appreciated the opportunity to share its thoughts on the Act with the trustees.
A Friend said: ‘I am very pleased the trustees have brought the matter to us for clearness. What looked like a routine decision goes right to the heart of how we work. We indulge in political activity not for financial gain or power, but because we are impelled to do so.’
Recording clerk Paul Parker added: ‘We are grateful for Friends seeing a way clearly through this thorny matter.’
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