Lobbying is a well-practised mode of business operations in which financial deals are arranged with corrupt politicians

The Scottish Parliament was confronted with the problem of “cross my palm” misconduct in the first years of the Labour/LibDem government, and after protracted debate, introduced rules governing the conduct of lobbyists and politicians, which appeared to resolve the issue.

The failure to account for £billions frittered away on goods and services attributed to the Covid pandemic revealed that lobbying had not been disabled by the legislation introduced many years before. Politicians were well aware of the weakness.

Telephone lobbying was not covered by the changes, and as such, there was no need for a Minister of the government to report any discussions or contractual agreements