Lobbys claims to have access to British PM rejected

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Lobbys claims to have access to British PM rejected

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Britain's government dismissed claims made by a lobby that it had direct access to PM David Cameron.

06 December,2011 11:04 am

Undercover reporters from Britains Bureau of Investigative Journalism secretly recorded executives from public affairs firm Bell Pottinger boasting of their influence over Cameron, finance minister George Osborne and Camerons chief of staff Ed Llewellyn.The opposition Labour party said the recordings, which were published in Tuesdays Independent newspaper, contained very serious allegations that highlighted problems with the lobbying system.Bell Pottinger Public Affairs director Tim Collins explained that he had forged strong links with Cameron and Osborne while working with them in the Conservative partys research department.Ive been working with people like (government aide) Steve Hilton, David Cameron, George Osborne for 20 years-plus, he said. There is not a problem getting the messages through.Collins claimed that Cameron had raised a copyright issue with Chinese premier Wen Jiabao on behalf of engineering company Dyson because we asked him to.A spokesman for Camerons Downing Street office denied the claims, saying: Bell Pottinger nor any other lobbying firm has any say or influence over government policy.