Media update

Guardian -Lord of Misrule has forgotten Spycatcher
"The move, according to the legal commentariat, is unprecedented. No previous Attorney-General has tried to throw the Official Secrets Act (section five) at the media before in the hope that what President Bush said to Prime Minister Blair about blasting the slats out of al-Jazeera is somehow off-limits, a secret too deep to whisper in public."

Guardian-France blamed MI6 for Rainbow Warrior
"The French government tried to blame the British intelligence service MI6 for the sinking of the Greenpeace flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, in a campaign of "misinformation and smears" that infuriated the Thatcher government, newly released documents have revealed."

Guardian - Child Support Agency forced to pay back wrongly accused men
"Figures released by the agency after a freedom of information request reveal that since 1998 3,034 men have been found to have been falsely accused by women of being the father out of 15,909 who have taken the test."

Guardian- Fuelhardy move
"He should also ask why HMRC has rejected - on grounds of "not being in the public interest" - a freedom of information request about the legal advice the department has received on whether pure vegetable oil should qualify for the lower biodiesel rate of duty."

Inside Housing-Authorities refuse to supply empty homes lists
"Councils are resisting attempts by developers to obtain lists of empty homes through the use of the Freedom of Information Act. The Empty Homes Agency has reported a surge of interest from commercial and individual developers keen to make use of the new act to pinpoint derelict properties suitable for refurbishment."

ICBirmingham - Residents in dark over soil danger
"A city MP has attacked Birmingham City Council over a lack of information given to residents living in homes built on contaminated land. Steve McCabe (Lab Hall Green) vowed to find answers to local people's concerns through the Freedom of Information Act."

TheLawyer -11 KBW launches information law group
"11 King's Bench Walk is launching a dedicated information law practice group. The group will be led by Timothy Pitt-Payne and will bring together the chambers' work in the fields of data protection, freedom of information, information sharing, privacy law and confidential information/ trade secrets."