The Campaign for Freedom of Information has issued a press release criticising Jack Straw for comments he made during Business Questions on Thursday:
"In the Commons today Mr Straw suggested that MPs' correspondence was "at risk of publication" under the FOI Act, adding that this was never anticipated and "would drive a coach and horses through the relationship that we have with constituents".The press release also criticises the Labour Party's PLP Parliamentary Committee for writing to Labour MPs encouraging them to support David Maclean's Bill when it returns to the Commons on May 18.
Mr Straw continued: "It is all very well for some people to say that there are some exemptions, but the truth is that the way that some journalists and the Information Commissioner are acting means that that intention is not being met in practice".
The Campaign's director Maurice Frankel said that "any suggestion that the Commissioner had ordered or encouraged authorities to release correspondence which MPs had sent on behalf of individual constituents is pure fantasy."
Read the full press release.
1 comment:
Hello
I'm glad you're raising this - but it is also worth noting newspapers are fighting hard to make sure the bill fails.
for example, here is the link to a blog posted by Mark Thomas, editor of the Liverpool Daily Post....
http://ldpeditor.merseyblogs.co.uk/
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