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Laying it on the line
Philip Kleinman
So how many MPs do make money out of public relations? The answer to that burningly topical question'will be provided not only by the register of Members' interests now being considered by the Commons but by the register which the Public Relations Consultants Association has just decided should be compiled of PR firms' clients, directors, shareholders and public officeholders retained.
The PRCA comprises sixty-four member firms, which, with their 2,000 employees, constitute the great majority of consultancies of any size. Associated with these firms are known to be some twenty-five MPs, many of whom it should be emphasised were PR men long before they entered Parliament.
The Institute of Public Relations, whose membership is made up of individuals, not companies, already maintains its own register of MPs who either belong to the Institute or have declared their PR interests to it. This list comprises the names of only twelve Members of the House of Commons and three of the House of Lords. Among the former are, for instance, William van Straubenzee, who has recently become parliamentary consultant to the Campbell-Johnson PR firm, and among the latter the present Earl Attlee, who runs the PR operations of British Rail's Southern Region.
Michael Rice, chairman of the PRCA's Consultancy Practices Committee, says the Association which was founded in 1969, has been discussing setting up a compulsory register of the kind now decided upon for the last three years. Rice admits that many people in the business have been unsure what attitude to take on the issue — and issue which first became a big talking point with the revelation of PR man Maurice Fraser's attempts to infiltrate Parliament on behalf of the Greek colonels.
Many PR people hoped that, if they took no notice, the issue would simply go away. But, of course, the very opposite has happened. Rice himself, despite the fact — or perhaps because of it — that his own consultancy is heavily engaged in political PR, is very strongly in favour of the register. "If Parliament," he says, "recognises that one is working openly it will reduce the tension." Rice in fact envisages the day when the PRCA may be granted statutory recognition so that firms which do not belong and do not subscribe to its register of interests will find themselves at a real disadvantage.
Most political PR, as Rice points out, is perfectly straightforward and above board, It involves for instance, advising clients on trends in Parliament which may affect their business and on how to put their point of view to relevant government departments. In the case of a client like Rice's Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, it means keeping interested MPs supplied with information and facilitating their contacts with OAPEC.
The decision to set up the PRCA register was not taken without some dissent. Its most active opponent was John Addey, whose PR consultancy has lately grown by leaps and bounds, mainly in the financial sphere. Addey is not worried about his relations with MPs, but he is very concerned about the consequences of having to reveal the identity of his clients where that very action might affect share prices. "In certain cases it would be obvious we were dealing with a a take-over defence and in one case with a take-over attack."
Addey would be prepared to disclose such details in confidence to the PRCA itself, or the Parliamentary Whips but he doesn't see why, if solicitors don't have to publish their client lists, he should publish his. "The PRCA has over-reacted to the Poulson and Dan Smith affairs. which were not PR but bribery and corruption." He is now considering whether to leave the Association.
He has a point, but the Association, wedded not before time to the concept of open dealing, is reconciled to doing without him if it has to.
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