Secrecy deal sparks lobby fears

There have been calls for lobby rules to be tightened

A confidentiality agreement between an MSP and a drugs company has sparked calls for the rules on lobbying at Holyrood to be tightened.

Deputy convener of the health committee Margaret Jamieson will visit American pharmaceutical firm Pfizer during a fact-finding trip to the United States and Belgium this summer.

As part of her trip she has signed a 10-year confidentiality agreement with the company.

Opposition parties said MSPs must avoid even the appearance of impropriety in the face of powerful vested interests.

Margaret Jamieson: Confidentiality agreement

The Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats said there must be more clarity about such trips.

The visit to Pfizer by the Kilmarnock and Loudon MSP will not appear on the register of members interests, because it has been paid for by an educational charity.

The Scottish Parliament Business Exchange was launched last autumn to introduce MSPs to industry.

Mrs Jamieson said she was not concerned about the confidentiality agreement.

She said: "I think that my constituents will understand that I have a great interest in the health service and if by undertaking the business exchange that makes it better for them, then they'll accept that.

Close scrutiny

"But at the end of the five-week process I have got to provide a report that will be available to anyone in Scotland."

She said that the visit was not intended to influence MSPs.

"I think they do it to share the knowledge because there is a great deal of inequality in health in Scotland," she said.

Liberal Democrat MSP George Lyon said members had to look again at the rules on lobbying, which came under close scrutiny during the "Lobbygate" scandal, in 1999.

"Unlike Westminster, the Scottish Parliament, with the power the committees have, MSPs are subject to much more lobbying than you would get south of the border.

Health conference

"Indeed, the Scottish Parliament, some would say, is a lobbyists dream in trying to influence how legislation and decisions are taken."

The SNP's health spokeswoman, Nicola Sturgeon, said MSPs must avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

She said she had turned down an offer from another drug company - of an expenses-paid trip to a health conference in America.

Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry said that everything the industry does is regulated.

A spokesman said guidelines on lobbying are stuck to very strictly.