Brown to end ban on pressure group ads

by Our Parliamentary correspondent, Campaign 13-Jul-07

Gordon Brown has signalled he is ready to end the ban on pressure groups such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace advertising on radio and television.

The Prime Minister vowed to act on proposals submitted last month by the
Advisory Group on Campaigning and the Voluntary Sector to allow
non-charitable social advocacy groups to run ads.

A Green Paper, setting out the Government's constitutional reforms, said

it would "explore the options for enabling charities to better campaign
on issues that are likely to advance the cause of the purpose for which
they have been established".

The paper also revealed that the membership of pressure groups had
grown, while that of political parties had fallen, and that
organisations such as Make Poverty History played "an ever more
important role in driving social, economic and environmental
change".

The 2003 Communications Act outlaws broadcast advertising by "political
bodies" and ads that are"directed towards a political end". One option
is for "political" ads by pressure groups to state that they include
political content, represent the opinion of the advertiser and disclose
the source of the ad's funding.

The timescale for change is unclear, but legislation could take up to
two years. Charities also want Ofcom and the BACC to recognise they
cannot have a political purpose.