Commenting on the defeat of Lord Harries’ amendments Sir Stephen Bubb, CEO of ACEVO said:
“We regret that the Lobbying Bill campaign has been stalled by a dead heat vote in the House of Lords. The tight margin of the final vote shows how close we were to achieving further breakthroughs. One more Peer voting in our favour would have excluded staff costs from this legislation. We are proud of the work on the Commission on Civil Society, which ACEVO helped set up. They achieved significant concessions from government. Even when others advised them to give up, they kept up the fight for the sector.
“The matter does not finish today. ACEVO will be monitoring the impact of the Bill. We’ll be asking our members how the legislation affects their work. We’ll work closely with our members to give advice on its implications. And we’ll continue to agitate for political parties to revise this bad bill in light of our evidence after the 2015 election.
We must be clear: civil society must never lose its voice. We must stand up for our beliefs and refuse self-censorship. ACEVO will work tirelessly to ensure that this Bill does not gag charities and campaigners.”
Click here to read Third Sector Magazine’s coverage on ACEVO and the Lobbying Bill.
