Letter: Why we need lobbyists

IT IS implicitly assumed in your article "Revealed: Labour's links with lobbyists" (24 March) that political consultancies are detrimental to a well-functioning democracy.

Companies using political consultancies do not buy influence - they buy knowledge (of the arcane political processes) and skills (in manoeuvring one's way through them). Unless and until the Modernisation Select Committee makes Parliamentary procedure less a series of tribal rituals and more a transparent and effective legislative machine, then lobbyists will always have a valid and necessary role to play in the UK. At the very least they are a necessary evil.

RICHARD MOLLET

Ludgate Communications

London EC1