LOBBYISTS may not be the oldest profession, but there can be little doubt that this activity (of lobbying) has been around a very long time.

In some quarters, lobbyists will be criticised, and their work disparaged. But suppose one were lobbying for an organisation such as the Red Cross, or Oxfam, with which our MP Stephen Doughty has had past associations, not specifically as a lobbyist though.

With Owen Smith, who is standing against Jeremy Corbyn in the upcoming Labour Party leadership election, matters are a little more contentious, as the MP for Pontypridd has had a period as a lobbyist for a large pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, on his CV. Pharmaceutical companies are not registered charities, like Oxfam.

I do not wish to discredit the honourable member for Pontypridd as, in any case, I do not have sufficient detailed factual information to make an assessment of him, in a personal sense.

Keeping things general, however, it is recognised that lobbying has grown and is growing – especially in the United States – and that it may need to be regulated.

It can be associated with ‘sleaze’ or corruption, or at the very least what lawyers would call ‘undue influence’.

Michael O'Neill

Railway Terrace

Penarth