Tom Watson urges David Cameron to drop 'sinister' FOI review

Labour deputy says any move to restrict freedom of information act will reverse transparency and lose public trust

David Cameron must abandon his “sinister” review of the Freedom of Information Act that could return the UK to the dark ages of private government, Tom Watson has said.

In a speech in London, the Labour deputy leader urged the government to drop its FOI commission which has itself been condemned for lacking transparency and initially planning to take evidence in private.

The composition of the panel has also been criticised, because it includes the former home secretary Jack Straw who has previously spoken out against the FOI and called for the legislation to be rewritten.

Watson, who is known for campaigning on civil liberties, said: “The Tories’ decision to review the Freedom of Information Act is a particularly egregious example of their determination to reverse the transparency Labour introduced.”

“The information commissioner described the review as an attempt to return to the dark ages of private government. Just think about that for a moment: the dark ages of private government, from the person charged with upholding transparency. That is sinister stuff but it’s true.”

He also highlighted the intervention of Bob Kerslake, the former head of the civil service, who told a separate cross-party inquiry into the act that the legislation should stay. Kerslake dismissed the claim made by his successor, Jeremy Heywood, that the act had a “chilling effect” on Whitehall.

Watson said: “I am calling on the government today to abandon its review. It doesn’t have the support of the public; it is opposed by many of the organisations that are covered by FOI; it has been condemned by the information commissioner and slammed by a former head of the civil service. It’s a waste of taxpayers’ money and it’s time it was scrapped. The Freedom of Information Act works well. Labour would strengthen and extend it.”

Watson also highlighted Cameron’s claims while in opposition that the Tories would “bring the operation of government out into the open”.
“As prime minister, he is m
ethodically closing all the doors and the shutters, drawing the blinds and the curtains, retreating to the shadows at the back of the national farmhouse,” he said. “He wants to govern from the gloom in the old-fashioned way, without the inconvenience of scrutiny, abandoning any hope of decency or trust.”

Ministers are considering curbs on FOI because they argue it has become too burdensome to administrate. They are looking at placing limits on requests and the possibility of charging for information.

Defenders of the act claim FOI has been used to uncover more than 200 major public sector scandals. These include the abuse of MPs’ expenses, increasing pay and expense levels of council chief executives, the black spider memos from Prince Charles to government ministers, and the growing number of racism claims within the Metropolitan police.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/dec/18/tom-watson-urges-david-cameron-to-drop-sinister-foi-review


Absolutely iniquitous, they are there to represent us, it's not an Eton Boys Club and we have a right to know what is going on.