Unfortunately, the lobbying bill Tom Brake was forcing through parliament finally scraped through the final vote and will become law.

This bill is meant to limit spending by any group during an election year but unfortunately it misses out most lobbying by big business whilst silencing charities and unions.

This is worrying for democracy.

Maina Kiai from the UN noted that the lobbying bill “seriously threatens to deter civil society from speaking freely” and shrinks the space for civil society to “express their collective will”. The bill faced almost unprecedented opposition, managing to unite everyone from the Countryside Alliance and the WI through to Christian Aid and Mumsnet.

At every avenue, the views of ordinary people are being silenced whilst the government forges closer ties to corporations that do not even pay their taxes such as through their “buddy scheme” which gives companies a “direct line to ministers and officials” whilst ordinary citizens and charities representing ordinary people are rarely listened to.

Tom Brake said recently that elections should be won solely on the “strength of someone’s argument”, and yet when he met members of the campaigning group 38 Degrees to discuss the bill, they provided legal evidence which showed how the bill would have a “chilling effect” on charities ability to campaign.

When they asked him to share his legal advice to prove them wrong, he refused.

Politicians' claims that the collapse in membership of political parties is due to apathy.

But when the campaigning group 38 Degrees now has almost 2m members this simply cannot be the case.

The truth is that many of us know that if we vote one government or MP out, the next one will let us down in the same way and so we are finding alternative ways to hold our politicians to account.

Mark Murton; Mint Road, Wallington

What do you think? Send your letter to: letters@suttonguardian.co.uk.

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