Published by Spinwatch and Unlock Democracy, ‘Lobbyists: Brexit’s Biggest Beneficiaries’ exposes how the job of designing workable policies is increasingly being outsourced to private sector lobbyists; how rising demand for insider access and information is leading to significant numbers of ex-ministers and officials moving to lobbying and law firms; how hospitality as a means of currying favour is still very much part of the lobbyists’ trade; and how propagandists and experts in ‘shaping public opinion‘ are seeing their value rise.

Spinwatch and Unlock Democracy, which both campaign for lobbying transparency, have raised concerns about the influence of lobbyists on the Brexit process. These concerns are particularly acute given the lack of a comprehensive lobbying register in the UK. This means the public has very little recourse to scrutinising the influence activities of lobbyists and the decisions made by ministers they are working with.