Corporations shouldn't buy political access | The Business Ethics Blog

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By Lauren | March 27, 2012

Living in Washington, D.C., one comes to expect the occasional scandal when a career politician is found to have gotten too cozy with a campaign donor. That?s why it was refreshing - for me, at least - to hear about the latest ?cash for access? scandal across the pond. According to NPR, the co-treasurer of Britain?s Conservative Party, Peter Cruddas, was caught on camera boasting that, for a mere $400,000, one could enjoy dinner with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Finance Minister George Osborne. Apparently dinner could include the opportunity to shape policy; Mr. Cruddas is quoted as saying ?If you?re unhappy about something, you can get - we can - we?ll listen to you, and we?ll put it into the policy committee at number 10? (an apparent reference to the Prime Minister?s residence at No. 10 Downing Street in London). Sadly for Mr. Cruddas, he wasn?t talking off the record to foreign financiers as he thought. His audience was actually a group of undercover reporters from Rupert Murdoch?s Sunday Times, who gleefully reported the whole sorry tale.

There?s something oddly ironic about having a government ?pay to play? scandal outed by one of Rupert Murdoch?s publications; I suppose we should all be grateful that the reporters didn?t tap Mr. Cruddas? cell phone. Putting that irony aside, however, Mr. Cruddas has resigned in disgrace, and now claims he wasn?t telling the truth when he suggested that big donors could purchase big influence with the Prime Minister. Parliament is in an uproar, the Prime Minister is scrambling to contain the damage (he was, after all, elected on a promise to curb corporate lobbying), and the opposition Labour Party is eagerly calling for an independent investigation.

Personally, though, I find myself wondering about corporate donors who would stoop to buying dinner with the Prime Minister in order to bend his ear. There?s nothing wrong with lobbying per se. After all, governments have to prioritize the interests of various segment of the public to govern, and it?s entirely legitimate for a company to want legislators to understand how a particular law or regulation would affect its operations. But if a company wants the government to take its interests into account, those interests should be explained on the record so other interested parties can have their say, too. If it turns out that Prime Minister Cameron has, in fact, been selling access to wealthy corporations, he should pay the price for it ? and so should the corporate executives who came to buy.

To read or listen to the NPR story, click here.

Topics: Business Ethics, Social Ethics, business communications, corporate responsibility, ethics |

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