Open Brown
Gordon Brown has launched his leadership campaign with that 'Government must be more open'. Doubtless we shall see in due course whether this has any consequences for the goverment's proposed restrictions on freedom of information.
And as Tony Blair moves on from running the greatest nation on earth, many people's thoughts will now be turning to the question of what happens to his prime ministerial papers. Well, I suppose they might if you're in records management.
As long-standing readers of this blog will know, FOI is only part of my role at the 91Èȱ¬. So I recently produced , a Radio 4 documentary about what Prime Ministers do after leaving Downing Street.
It included the former Cabinet Secretary Robin Butler revealing the problems that the civil service has in retrieving its paperwork from ex-PMs who have removed official records along with their personal papers. 'That can be quite a little tussle after the Prime Minister leaves office', he said. 'If Prime Ministers do take them away, there is the greatest difficulty in recovering them.' Maybe the solution is to get them to promise to bring them back, hand on heart.
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Will Brown's desire for more open and accountable government and for strengthening Parliament extending to urging his fellow Labour Ministers and MPs (including his campaign manager, and Leader of the House, Jack Straw) to vote down the private Member's Bill on Friday 18th May seeking to exempt Parliament from its own FoI Act?
Let me gues. Blair is free to stuff his memoirs with all sorts of secret goodies, whereas those with a conscience get prosecuted and jailed. Seems par for the course for this shoddy PM and government. I certainly wouldn't accept any hand on heart promises from Blair.
Actually, Gordon Brown's support for Open Government was even more explicit than that. He also pledged 'to build a shared national consensus for a programme of constitutional reform that strengthens the accountability of all who hold power'.
"All those who hold power" includes MPs, doesn't it? How will Gordon be voting this Friday?
Dear Mr. Brown,
Please do not give me another reason not to vote Labour. Since you are the de facto leader of the largest bloc in parliament, I will hold you responsible for this legislation should it be passed - especially given your recent comments on restoring trust in government.
How can Mr Brown profess all these desires and yet STILL be the holder of a seat in another albeit adjoining country's parliament,elected by the Scots and Yet be elected as Prime kinister for England? Of whom the inhabitants were not able to vote for him and he is NOT a popular choice here,and no one stood or rephrase were not able to stand against him to see if he would so be elected as Prime minister. If this was another country everyone would be up in arms afainst this altogether. I would like to know HOW?