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January 25th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda - Treasury secretary and policing minister addressed the invite-only events
- Cameron’s special adviser for energy has attended, as have BP and Shell
- Events usually at exclusive Mayfair restaurant
- Apple, Google and Citigroup also met MPs there
- Guests from Government appear to pay lower fee
- Civil servants were banned from attending – but ruling has been reversed
By
Emma Reynolds
Last updated at 10:14 AM on 25th January 2012
Big businesses have been paying £1,800 a time to dine with ministers and civil servants at exclusive ‘Chemistry Club’ events, reigniting the cash for access row.
Chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, climate change minister Lord Taylor and policing minister Nick Herbert have all addressed the invite-only events, usually hosted at Mayfair restaurant Sartoria.
It is not the first time MPs have provoked fury by offering special access to wealthy corporations seeking to lobby the Government.
Networking names: Treasury secretary Danny Alexander, left, and policing minister Nick Herbert, right, have both spoken at the exclusive events
The Cabinet Office issued guidance in
August 2010 telling civil servants not to attend
Chemistry Club events, and said it had not been aware of how large a sum companies paid to attend.
But now, senior MPs and special advisers from across the Government have resumed attending the events, and the Cabinet says it has overturned its ruling on attendance, according to a report in The Guardian.
WHAT IS THE MYSTERIOUS CHEMISTRY CLUB?
The Chemistry Club’s website says it is ‘a leading independent organisation serving the technology sector’.
It continues: ‘We produce a range of events and services including business-to-business evenings, special briefings, master classes and executive coaching.
‘For over 11 years our networking events have enabled people to meet to share views and experiences in a neutral environment.’
Backbench MPs have
been joining in the expensive ‘networking’ evenings, alongside power-brokers from the Home Office, Ministry of Defence, Department
of Energy and Climate Change, Metropolitan Police and intelligence agencies.
They have been rubbing shoulders with bosses from influential firms including BP, Shell, and the Russian oil giant Gazprom at climate change events, and Apple, Google and Citigroup
executives at others.
Mark Simon, chief executive of the
Chemistry Club, said the events targeted key decision makers.
‘If you look at climate
change, for example, we look at who is core to the debate,’ he said. ‘There’s no point inviting someone who no one wants to speak to… The
objective of the event is that they walk away having had a handful of
relevant conversations.
Schmoozing: BP have attended climate change events along with Shell, while Apple and Google have been present at the often technology-themed evenings
‘It’s about mutuality. The civil servant
wants to meet suppliers just as much as the supplier wants to meet with,
say, someone at the ministry.’
The club charges
senior executives from the private sector between £1,300 and £1,800 per person for each event, but invites some from the public sector to attend for free.
Ben Moxham, David Cameron’s special
adviser for energy and the environment and a former employee of BP, was at an event on climate change in November.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: ‘The
Chemistry Club has now changed the way it operates to provide for
greater transparency around its operations and attendance, enabling civil
servants to attend events.’
He said that civil servants had to declare their attendance at such events in their departments, and that the details are published for senior figures.
Some have noted their attendance at recent events on hospitality registers, frequently
valuing the hospitality received at £25 or below despite the four-figure
price tag for private sector attendees.
The Labour MP Lisa Nandy, who has followed the Chemistry Club’s activities since the
Cabinet Office first discouraged officials from attending, said ministers had serious questions to answer.
She said it was ‘exceptionally difficult’ to get
clear answers about who attends the meetings and that it was hard to escape the impression ministers are just lip service to the
principle of open government.
Tamasin Cave, of the transparency group Spinwatch, said the Chemistry Club represented a lobbying industry that was out of control.
Both were concerned at the ability of major companies to spend money and potentially influence policy.
It is not the first time that ministers have been embroiled in cash for access scandals.
David Cameron was attacked in 2006 and 2010 for advertising a £50,000 Tory-supporters club, in which
members have access to senior Conservatives and the PM at events and
meetings.
In December 2010, ex-defence secretary Geoff Hoon said he wanted to turn his government contacts into ‘something that, bluntly, makes money’ and former transport secretary Stephen Byers called himself a ‘taxi for hire’.
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What is the differnce between lobying and bribery???
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An example of lobbying sleaze by another name. It should be avoided by any public servants. It is a way of buying access to people who are happy to go along for the freebie and consequently susceptible to partiality. Why do they need to meet with ‘suppliers’?. Are they incapable of finding out a suppliers competences etc at a formal meeting if they require their services before requesting tenders or whatever. It’s just cosying up and the best cosyers get the cherry. No one is fooled by these soirees, their purpose is to make money, not an enlightened administration.
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