Facebook and Google in rush to hire UK lobbyists

THE world’s largest technology companies have hired an army of lobbyists as political pressure on Silicon Valley’s biggest names builds.

The Daily Telegraph has discovered that Facebook, Google and Amazon doubled their number of policy specialists in the UK in the past two years. More than 50 have been hired during that time.

Around half of those lobbyist roles are occupied by Facebook employees, The Telegraph found. The company is also advertising for many more lobbying roles on its website.

Facebook last week announced that it had hired Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister, as its new head of global affairs and communication, the latest in a flurry of high-profile names the tech giants have brought in.

Google has employed Theo Bertram, a former adviser to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, as a public policy manager for Europe.

Richard Allan, the former Liberal Democrat MP for Sheffield Hallam, oversees the social network’s European lobbying.

In the UK only consultant lobbyists are required to disclose their activities, meaning the large technology business’s operations are often difficult to uncover.

Chancellor Philip Hammond is rumoured to be preparing a new digital services tax on Google and Facebook in his Oct 29 Budget.

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