Derek Draper: "We should know who the lobbyists are"

Speaking exactly a year after The Observer newspaper broke the story that led to his resignation from the lobbying industry, the former aide to Peter Mandelson said: "People don't like the idea that you can pull strings for money."

He told the BBC: "Since lobbygate happened people may have thought that the links between new Labour and lobbyists would have separated out but I fear that nothing much has changed.

"We now see people going from lobbying firms into government as special advisers and back to lobbying firms and I don't think that is right.

"That culture in the Westminster village is still there and it needs to be addressed."

Mr Draper made his remarks as the Neill committee on Standards in Public Life resumed its public review of the implementation of its previous recommendations governing MPs, ministers, civil servants and quangos.

He later appeared before the committee on Monday afternoon. He said he would recommend that anyone leaving government employment should wait for at least two years before being able to join a lobbying firm.

Inside information

No confidential information should be passed on from those inside government to lobbyists, Mr Draper said, as "that would give one particular company or lobbyist the edge".

He also suggested statutory rules should be put in place to govern the activities of lobbyists.

But Mr Draper's recommendations for new laws have already been dismissed by the former head of the Association of Professional Political Consultants, Charles Miller.

Mr Miller said the rules governing lobbyists could benefit from being formalised but he said new laws were unnecessary.

Mr Miller added there should be a "ban on the passing of confidential information from anyone within government to anyone outside government".

But he said to stop government special advisers taking up lobbying positions for two years after leaving their post would put "lobbying firms in a position that isn't justified".

And he added there is "no need for lobbying firms, as distinct from other commercial organisations, to be singled out".

Ingham warns about advisers

Margaret Thatcher's former press secretary Sir Bernard Ingham also appeared before the committee.

Sir Bernard, who briefed the press for the former Tory prime minister during the 1980s, warned that said special advisers were increasingly doing ministers' "dirty work" such as leaking news stories to the media instead of advising on policy.

Sir Bernard said: "In my view the special or political adviser system is becoming so corrupted that new and restrictive rules are required to protect the taxpayer."

He criticised Prime Minister Tony Blair's press secretary Alastair Campbell, saying that in his opinion the government was "unduly obsessed" by the media.

Sir Bernard said that this obsession put the neutrality of the Government Information Service under pressure.