Government attempts to force through a controversial lobbying Bill were dealt another blow yesterday when a joint committee of MPs and peers said it should not progress in its current form.

The government has already been forced to make a number of amendments to the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill following a mauling by MPs.

And the Bill has been roundly condemned by unions and charities which accuse the government of attempting to gag them.

Yesterday the joint committee on human rights, while accepting there may be a pressing need to reform non-party campaigning, called for the passage of the Bill to be halted to allow further scrutiny and consultation.

In particular more careful consideration should be given to the potential impact on campaigners' rights to freedom of speech association, it said.

Committee chairman Dr Hywel Francis MP said that while the amendments were welcome concerns remained.

He also said it was "unacceptable that [the government] has not been able to report on a Bill that raises significant human rights issues before it has left the first House, on account of the unnecessary speed at which the Bill is being taken.

"This amounts to an abuse of the parliamentary legislative and scrutiny process - and this is not the first time that this has happened."

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "The continuing refusal of ministers to withdraw the Bill and start again with a proper process of consultation reveals the shabby partisan motives at its heart."