In our recent report on taxpayer funded lobbying and political campaigning (PDF) we highlighted some of the key problems with government spending money on lobbying and political campaigning. In particular:
- "It distorts the public policy process in favour of the interests and perspectives of a narrow political elite.
- It slows adjustments in the direction of policy in response to changing circumstances.
- It increases political apathy among the public, particularly because taxpayers are forced to fund views they may seriously disagree with."
Recently, some examples have come to light that show this isn't just a matter of politicians and bureaucrats using taxpayers' money to push their agendas at home. They're also trying to influence debates in other democracies with messages that the British public are unlikely to care about or agree with. There are a number of examples:
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According to a YouGov poll (PDF) for The Economist, 74% of British people are in favour of the death penalty for murderers in some or all circumstances. Yet, the Foreign Office see it as a fundamental part of their work to go around the world trying to convince countries, even democratic allies like the Republic of Korea, that they should abolish capital punishment. Regardless of your views on the issue, I'm opposed to capital punishment personally, we live in a democracy and the idea that the public don't just not get what they want on this issue but have their money spent advocating a cause they don't believe in abroad is incredibly troubling.
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At the TPA, we've put out a press release with the CEI today attacking the Carbon Trust's foreign ventures. An organisation funded by British taxpayers is trying to expand into new territories as if it is a multinational company. The Carbon Trust has always been among the worst examples of unaccountable government bureaucracy, financed with taxpayers’ cash but not subject to public scrutiny through vital democratic tools like the Freedom of Information Act. Now it’s trying to export that model to other countries, using British taxpayers’ money to lobby foreign politicians to fund its new franchises abroad. Our release was reported in the Daily Mail, who say in their leader that Gordon Brown should "start with the Carbon Trust" if he is looking for public spending cuts, and I've fisked the Carbon Trust Chief Executive's response on our blog.
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The Foreign Office have funded a report on the activities of the Israeli Defence Force in Gaza. Of course, there's nothing wrong with having a debate over the conduct of the IDF, and there was a serious inquiry in Israel after the war in Lebanon, but the idea there is any pressing British national interest in funding one side of that debate is absurd, particularly when doubts have been raised over the veracity of the research. Dan Kosky sets out some of the problems in an article for Comment is Free.
This is an area we're interested in looking into at the TPA, can any commenters think of any other particularly telling cases?
This is all part of the same trend as funding for domestic campaigns, from Demos to the Campaign for Better Transport. Our political elite clearly have no respect for the fact that they are playing with other people's money and have no right to use public resources to further their own political agendas.
