We paid an ex-Tory MP to lobby for our fake Chinese firm - and authorities did nothing

Investigation finds no rules were broken. It just goes to show how few rules there are.

‘Investigation closed’ - Ben Howlett speaking to our fake Chinese interest

On any other day, the news that broke in Westminster yesterday afternoon would have dominated today’s front pages: the husband of an MP has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China.

David Taylor, who is married to Labour MP Joani Reid, was reportedly arrested as part of a wider investigation into national security offences involving China. Also detained were a former Welsh Labour press officer and a former Labour special adviser.

None of the men have yet made any statements about their arrest - and they must be considered innocent until any charges are proved - but the whole saga is testament to something Democracy for Sale has been warning about for a long time: British democracy is incredibly susceptible to political interference.

But the problem isn’t just that foreign actors are trying to influence British politics. It’s also that the rules of our politics make it so easy to buy and sell access - and that those charged with enforcing those rules have shown little appetite for doing so.

I saw this firsthand last week when the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists - the official lobbying regulator - closed its investigation into a company called Chamber UK, finding that it had not breached UK lobbying law.

You might remember the name. In December, we revealed how Chamber UK and its owner, former Tory MP Ben Howlett, had introduced a consultant working for a wealthy Chinese family office - interested in investing in AI in the UK - to more than a dozen Labour MPs.

But the consultant wasn’t really a consultant. He was an undercover reporter working for Democracy for Sale and Led By Donkeys. For the promise of just £5,000, our fake Chinese interest was able to buy access right into the heart of government. As part of our investigation, we paid for two pro-China posts on the influential PoliticsUK Twitter/X account that Howlett owns.

After the story was published, I expected serious repercussions. We had shown how easily Westminster can be infiltrated, and how cheaply. We had shown how former politicians trade on their political connections without doing due diligence on who is paying them.

Our story was broadcast to millions on ITV News and prompted questions in Parliament. Eighty thousand people watched our video about the undercover. A complaint was made to the lobbying regulator. Something was happening - or so I thought.

I was wrong. Last Monday, the regulator closed its investigation into Howlett and Chamber UK. No rules had been broken. Nothing to see here.

The regulator’s analysis may well be correct - our lobbying rules are so weak that they practically don’t exist. But what shocked me most was how thin the supposed investigation actually was. Democracy for Sale was never contacted. Neither were our partners. Nobody asked us how easy it was to run a fake consultant in Parliament. Nobody seemed to care.

This is the reality, time and again, of influence in British politics. Fewer than 4 per cent of investigations into unregistered lobbying result in any penalty.

The system isn’t just failing, it has been designed to fail. The rules are weak enough that those with money and connections rarely need to break them.

Ben Howlett and Chamber UK are one example. But the same dynamic plays out across Westminster’s influence industry, and goes right to the top.

Last month, Global Counsel - the lobbying firm founded by Peter Mandelson - called in the administrators, following revelations in the Epstein files.

Global Counsel, as we frequently reported, refused to name its clients, though its list included now-sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, TikTok and OpenAI. From talking to former staff, I know that Mandelson was a central part of the firm’s pitch to prospective clients - his name, his relationships, his access were the product being sold.

Senior Labour figures have been at pains to distance themselves from Mandelson - but they not only condoned this access for sale, they played directly into it.

At the 2023 Labour conference in Liverpool I wangled an invite to a lavish cocktail party hosted by Global Counsel. In a swanky hotel by the river, I spoke with pension fund managers and politicos. I tried - and failed - to get some information from the sharply dressed young man from Palantir (another Global Counsel client.)

Mandelson was master of ceremonies, flitting around the room. A couple of shadow ministers showed up as the drink flowed.

This is how it all works. And despite Mandelson’s spectacular fall from grace, nothing has changed. We have the same awful lobbying rules that let former politicians sell access without even having to declare who they are working for. There are no plans for any change to this broken system.

Late last year, the government commissioned former senior civil servant Philip Rycroft to investigate foreign interference in British politics. I welcomed the move and gave evidence to the review team when they got in touch.

Rycroft’s report must be more than a review - it needs to be a catalyst for real, root-and-branch reform. The revolving door between politics and the lobbying industry needs proper regulation.

Former ministers and MPs shouldn’t be allowed to sell access to the highest bidder with almost no stricture. And the definition of lobbying needs to be broad enough to actually capture what lobbyists do.

Yesterday’s arrests are a reminder of how seriously foreign states take the project of influencing British politics. Until we take the rules governing that influence equally seriously, we are leaving the door wide open - and, as we showed, you don’t even need to pick the lock.