Every geek Guido knows is twitchy about getting an iPhone from Apple. The snag is that in addition to the high handset cost (£269) the monthly rental includes an overcharged lock-in to Apple’s partner 02 mobile network.

Now hackers have figured out how to unlock the phone and connect it to any network without the high-priced monthly charges. Apple have put their U.S. lawyers on the case, trying to enforce some kind of corporate communism. You buy the phone, but it is not your property to do with as you please if Apple get their way. (The big pharmaceutical companies try to do the same with their products, stopping you importing them from cheaper markets.)

Big business uses lobbyists to get politicians to pass laws that favour their clients rather than the common good. It is special pleading and protectionism of the worst kind. In the coming months Guido will be on the look out for examples of lobbyists using MPs to further private corporate interests at the expense of consumers. It is a murky world that people in Westminster are reluctant to talk about. Full of ex-MPs, ex-SpAds and on-the-make spivs. They like to do business behind closed doors, but you’ll catch rare sight of them in the open at the party conferences. Lavishing food and drink on anyone they think useful to their client’s interests…

Email Guido with any examples of lobbyists trying to screw the public for their clients.