When Heather met Paxman
Oct 13, 2009 Campaigns, Central Government, FOI in Parliament, FOI in the news, Freedom of Information
The story that keeps on giving has given me another blast on the airwaves. I’ve been on the TV and radio the last few days talking about the internal audit done on MPs’ expenses in which several hundred MPs have been asked to pay back money. I’ve been brutal, accepting only a few requests due [...]
OFCOM register of hospitality
Sep 18, 2009 Central Government
Hmm – it’s 3pm on a Friday and I’ve just had Ofcom’s response to my freedom of informaton act request seeking their registers of gifts and hospitality. Ofcom is the regulator of the broadcast industry and as you’ll see there’s a lot of ’stakeholder engagement’ in evidence. Friday afternoons are the preferred time for [...]
Video: My talk to the Centre of Investigative Journalism
Sep 18, 2009 Central Government, FOI in Parliament
Here is a talk I gave to the Centre of Investigative Journalism this summer, for those interested in hearing the full tale of how I battled to obtain MPs’ expenses.
Westminster Gravy Train on telly!
Apr 14, 2009 Campaigns, Central Government
Tune into your TVs this Sunday April 19th to see the culmination of my long investigation into parliamentary transparency. Is this a House fit for purpose? Is it reflective of a modern democracy? How can we ensure our elected politicians are representing our interests and not solely their own?
Channel 4 Dispatches: The Westminster Gravy Train. [...]
A good day to bury bad expenses
Mar 30, 2009 Campaigns, Central Government, FOI in Parliament
A Home Secretary on the verge of resignation over allegations her husband put through porn on expenses.
World leaders descending on London for the G20 with expected riots.
A full news day and what better time to publish the much-delayed aggregate 2007/2008 expense totals of all MPs. These are the same aggregate totals that the House of [...]
Expenses U-Turn
Jan 21, 2009 Central Government, FOI in Parliament, Freedom of Information
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has just told the House of Commons that plans to amend Freedom of Information laws to exempt MPs expenses will be abandoned. As readers of the blog will know, MPs were due to vote on this shameless bill tomorrow. Now it seems the issue is shelved.
The Times reports that Mr [...]
Subsidized lobbying
Dec 30, 2008 Central Government
Whether or not it’s right for government agencies to spend taxpayer money to lobby MPs or provide them with fancy drinks receptions – the fact is that we can’t even have a debate about this until we know it’s happening. Which it is. To the tune of £300,000. And that’s just by the staff of [...]
Home Office Shredders
Nov 28, 2008 Campaigns, Central Government, FOI in Parliament, Freedom of Information, Law Enforcement
What’s really amazing about the arrest of Opposition Immigration Minister Damian Green isn’t simply that such a thing has happened in a supposed democracy (though I’ve long maintained that the UK isn’t a democracy) but the simple existence of any Home Office documents available for him to leak in the first place! Green is accused [...]
UK MPs to be given extension for disclosing expenses
Oct 20, 2008 Campaigns, Central Government, Freedom of Information
The Telegraph has revealed that MPs will now receive a months ‘grace period’ before the full details of their expenses claims are published.
Before details are made public, MPs will be able to use the appeal period to decide which entries are a risk to their security and therefore should be omitted from the public [...]
Still not getting it
Jun 23, 2008 Campaigns, Central Government
MPs are still not getting it. Instead of embracing the principal of open government and beginning the slow process of re-building their reputation with the public, they want to give themselves more money by stealth.
MPs set to claim £40,000 perk
Members of parliament could receive a standard allowance of £40,000 a year on top of [...]
