Rant: Freedom of Information
5 Jan 2005 by Paul Davies
New Labour took an almost unprecedented step to herald the start of the new year: they fulfilled a manifesto promise.The new Freedom of Information Act, which was promised by the then Labour government in 1974 and formed part of the '97 election pledges, finally came to fruition on January 1st, albeit a little later than scheduled.
The introduction of freedom of information laws brings Britain in to line with the rest of the developed world, who have had similar statutes in place since Tony was still strumming away with Ugly Rumours.
Given the amount of ministerial mischief that makes it into the public sphere as it is, one has often wondered what isn't leaked and which scandals fail to reach the tabloids. Are we about to find out? Does 2005 mark the start of something new: a truly open society in which government ministers are wholly accountable for their actions?
Probably not. The recent revelation about the old racist ways of the army recruiters - which, incidentally, had nothing to do with the governments in charge anyway - is likely to be but a token gesture to show how Blair has conquered the "British disease" of an obsession with secrecy. With as many as 24 areas retaining "absolute exemptions" and costs of detailed information retrieval as yet unconfirmed; we can rest assured that nothing any more damning than usual will be splattered over the front pages.
Furthermore, it has been reported that not only were civil servants on round the clock shredding duty leading up to the New Year, but that politicians will simply not bother putting any potentially damaging comments into words anymore, enhancing, rather than dampening, the culture of secrecy.
After the way the prime minister's credibility has collapsed since the Iraq war, Blair will be understandably cautious about just how far-reaching the new legislation is. And if the past seven-and-a-half years have taught us anything, what Blair wants, Blair gets: chalk up another piece of all-mouth-no-trousers legislation for the masters spin.
