“We must Trump-proof our politics”: Lib Dems call for new law to bar ministers from lobbying on behalf of foreign leaders

EMBARGO: Monday 22 September, 14:40

• ⁠Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller will today [Monday 22 September] use his keynote speech to warn of the “creep of cronyism” into British and global politics
• He will call for new legislation to prevent UK ministers from lobbying on behalf of foreign leaders - and for the Government to refer itself for investigation under its new ethics structure after lobbying golf board R&A to hold the next Open at Trump’s Turnberry
• ⁠Miller, previous Principal Private Secretary to the Cabinet Secretary, will tell the party’s Conference that he left Government over Conservative “sleaze and scandal” and believes those in Reform measuring the curtains in Number 10 want the office because of what it can do “for them – not for the country”

The Lib Dems’ Foreign Affairs spokesperson Calum Miller will today [Monday 22 September] warn of a “culture of impunity” eroding the rule of law around the globe and call for new measures to tackle a politics of “private interest”.

Miller will draw on his own experience at the top of the civil service to condemn the “creep of cronyism” into British, American and global politics as he lays out a new suite of policies to better protect public standards in British political life.

The foreign affairs spokesperson, who served as principal private secretary to Cabinet Secretary Gus O’Donnell and then deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, is set to call for a new bill to protect against ministers or officials lobbying on behalf of foreign powers, especially with the expectation of personal or financial favours in return. The “Trump-proofing” of British politics is all the more important as “plastic patriot” Farage begins measuring the curtains in Number 10, Miller is expected to say.

The Liberal Democrat will also set out his demands for the current Government to refer itself to the new standards system being ushered in by the incoming Ethics and Integrity Commission (EIC). The ministers responsible for lobbying the golf board R&A in order to get the next Open at Trump’s Scotland course, Turnberry, must be the “first case for investigation” under the new system.

Miller will also set out his view that the liberal international order which inspired his political beliefs is now being dismantled, aided by populists like Trump and supported by an “axis of authoritarianism"  which includes Putin and President Xi. The spokesman will call for China to receive no further British trade talks unless it stops enabling Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.

On Turnberry, Calum Miller is expected to say:

“In April, we learnt that government officials were lobbying the R&A, the body behind golf’s Open Championship, to host the championship at the President’s Turnberry course in Ayrshire.

“It’s shocking that our Government is appealing to the personal financial interests of an American President to curry favour.

“We must protect our politics from the insidious creep of cronyism.

“Next month, the Government’s Ethics and Integrity Commission will begin its work.

“The Government must show this Commission can truly protect our values from foreign corruption.

“That’s why I am calling on the Government to refer its own lobbying over Turnberry as the first case for investigation.”

On a foreign lobbying bill, he is expected to say:

“To protect our politics from further corruption we must go further.

"The Government must put the Ministerial Code on a statutory footing -

"And bring forward a new Lobbying of Foreign Powers Bill -

"To expand protections against UK officials and Ministers actively advancing foreign leaders’ financial interests.

“We must Trump-proof our politics – especially in light of people like Farage, already measuring the curtains in Number Ten, who care more about what that office could do for them, than what it can do for this country.”

On his reasons for entering politics, he is expected to say:

“Conference, I first put myself forward for election because I had had enough.

“Enough of Boris Johnson’s lies and mendacity.

“Enough of ministers who put personal interest before national interest.

“Enough of politicians who set out to mobilise fear as a tool of division and to serve their ambition for power.”

ENDS