Given the intensity of Jeremy Clarkson’s assault on the reputation of the caravan, you might have expected that the Caravan Club would need the services of a heavy weight Public Relations Outfit, and perhaps at a pinch, the ‘non-political’ services of their most famous parliamentary poster girl – Margaret Beckett MP, but it seems that the Club is a political force to be reckoned with.
They have 3 MPs on stipends of up to £10,000 a year, presumably they get Ms Beckett for free, or at least she doesn’t declare an ‘interest’. Something she would have in common with David Amess, who failed to declare his caravanning interests an improbable six times when asking pertinent questions in parliament.
ILLSLEY, Eric (Barnsley Central)
2. Remunerated employment, office, profession etc
Parliamentary adviser to the Caravan Club. (£5,001–£10,000)
ÖPIK, Lembit (Montgomeryshire)
2. Remunerated employment, office, profession etc
Parliamentary adviser to the Caravan Club of Great Britain. (£5,001–£10,000)
AMESS, David (Southend West)
2. Remunerated employment, office, profession etc
Parliamentary Adviser to the Caravan Club. (£5,001–£10,000)
Whilst looking into the apparently sleepy world of Formica and maroon banquettes, I discovered that no less than two Acts of Parliament had been passed of direct benefit to this Club.
Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960
Caravans Act (Northern Ireland) (1963) Chapter 17
both of which provide exemptions only applicable to members of…….The Caravan Club. With 1,000,000 members and an annual turnover of £86 million, this outfit is not small fry, but there cannot be many private clubs or companies of a similar size who require 3 retained MPs to take care of their interests.
Can any political bloggers throw some light on this hotbed of lobbying?