Thank You Norman Baker [and others]
Posted April 20th, 2007 by ringverse
Opponents have effectively scuppered a bill which would exempt MPs from Freedom of Information Act inquiries.
Ex-Tory chief whip David Maclean had brought in the private member's bill. He says he does not want letters on behalf of constituents published - but it would also curb requests about issues such as MPs' expenses claims.
Lib Dem MP Norman Baker and a handful of MPs from all parties managed to talk out the planned bill by making sure the debate continued for five hours.
This means the bill now goes to the bottom of the queue for private member's bill and has virtually no chance of becoming law unless it gets government backing.
The two-clause bill would effectively remove both the Commons and House of Lords from the list of public authorities obliged to release information under the 2000 act, which came into force in 2005.
"He says he does not want
"He says he does not want letters on behalf of constituents published..."
AFAIK, that is a complete red herring. Constituents' letters are copyright to the people who write them, and hence cannot legally be published. Can anyone with legal knowledge tell me if there is anything wrong with that common-sense belief? (I am not a lawyer, and worse still I have a distressing lifetime habit of thinking logically, which often makes it very hard for me to understand the law).
I'd imagine a letter, memo
I'd imagine a letter, memo or some-such would not be copyright as they are not 'literary works'. Further, I understand some 'literary works' that are copyright are exempted from protection. These include; not for profit acedemic work and education material amongst others.
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/copy/c-applies/c-write.htm
I'd imagine a letter, memo
I'd imagine a letter, memo or some-such would not be copyright as they are not 'literary works'. Further, I understand some 'literary works' that are copyright are exempted from protection. These include; not for profit acedemic work and education material amongst others.
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/copy/c-applies/c-write.htm
A letter is a literary work.
A letter is a literary work.
Radio 4 Today Prog. -
Radio 4 Today Prog. - MacLean's claim for protection of constituent identity etc. is bogus.
Norman Baker says it's a fatuous claim - The Data Protection Act already serves to fully guard that sort of information against disclosure.
Listen again - http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today4_info_20070420.ram
(7 minutes)
The data protection act
The data protection act prohibits the release of personal data in precisely the circumstances of, for example, letters concerning the needs of a (or group of) constituent(s).
Surely an MP would know such a thing? (rhetorical) :-)
One word: Good. Let's hope
One word: Good.
Let's hope this never comes up again.
Life is like a box of chocolates: too much makes you sick...
>>has virtually no chance of
>>has virtually no chance of becoming law unless it gets government backing. <<
I would not rule that out. Brown seems every bit as control freaky and downright deceitful as Blair.
There's some fantastic
There's some fantastic bullshit coming out of crap-Quango SEPA, Thames Water and others at the debacle on the Forth: http://1820.org.uk/2007/04/shit_ahoy.shtml
Another PFI nightmare brought to you by Labour.
Gus @ http://1820.org.uk
it's back, clearly some
it's back, clearly some bigwig backing for David Maclean’s Zombie Bill
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6586131.stm
It's back Life is like a
It's back
Life is like a box of chocolates: too much makes you sick...