DISCLAIMER: This article contains the personal views of the author and should not be inferred to be the views of Unlock Democracy.

At the weekend the Sunday Times reported that four Labour peers had indicated to undercover reporters that they were willing to amend legislation for cash. Now we learn that it is estimated that one in five peers works as a paid consultant. And this comes exactly seven months after The Independent reported that thirty peers were employing staff who moonlighted for lobbyists or business trade groups.

Clearly the Lords must be reformed urgently to prevent certain groups having undue influence on government: such influence skews democracy so that decision makers do not act in the general public interest, and it promotes political cynicism which severs the democratic channels between government and the electorate.

First, peers should not be permitted to be consultants, paid or otherwise—this gives certain groups privileged access and information, and such an arrangement could easily evolve into brazen buying of influence. Secondly, peers should not be allowed to employ staff who work for lobbyists or as in-house lobbyists. Thirdly, we must have sanctions to enforce these rules. Currently peers’ staff can have their parliamentary passes revoked, but Lords must also face suspension and ultimately expulsion for misconduct.

But we must regulate the lobbyists too and not just the lobbied, as the Public Administration Select Committee’s recent report, Lobbying: Access and Influence in Whitehall has convincingly shown. The Committee notes that while Ministers and civil servants must abide by ethical codes, lobbyists have a system of self-regulation that ‘involves very little regulation of substance’. They suggest establishing (by legislation if necessary) a single umbrella organisation to regulate all lobbyists. This would proactively seek to stamp out abuses, and not also act with conflicting interest as a lobbying trade association. They also recommend legislating for a mandatory register of lobbying activity, and keeping a record of meetings between lobbyists and decision makers, to make lobbying transparent and less susceptible to abuse.