Blair Regrets Passing Freedom of Information Law [View All]

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Source: NY Times

Poised on the brink of power, Tony Blair made an impassioned vow: Britain's jealously-held culture of official secrecy would be dramatically swept away.

Fifteen years later, the country has a thriving right to information law, with almost 44,000 requests made last year, and recently announced it would accept demands for government data posted using Twitter. So former prime minister Blair must now reflect with pride on delivering his promise?

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"You can't run government without being able to have confidential discussions with people on issues that are of profound importance," a rueful Blair told The Associated Press in an interview. "What happens in the end is that you make politicians very nervous of actually debating things honestly, because they're worried about what's going to happen when there's a FOI request."

Critics suspect that his change of mind reflects an unease at the public response to the Iraq war, and his realization — seemingly shortly after he took office — that the information law could expose activities by his party that voters may find unacceptable.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/11/17/world/europe/AP-Access-Denied-Blairs-Regret.html?hp