Iain Dale: So the Tories are backing the government’s plans for the Post Office and Jack Straw’s decision to block publication of the Iraq war cabinet minutes. It’s probably just as well I have been too busy today to do much blogging.
Dizzy Thinks: I thought I would just pass a quick comment on Jack Straw’s decision to veto the Information Commissioner on the issue of Cabinet minutes on the decision to go to war in Iraq. Firstly, the Tories are bloody idiots to support the Government on this…
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2 Comments
David Howarth isn’t arguing that Cabinet minutes should always be published, is he?
So LibDem opposition to Jack Straw’s Iraq veto must be based on the specifics of this case.
David Howarth says “The decision to go to war in Iraq was momentous, controversial and disastrous, especially for this country’s reputation as an upholder of international law.”
But why should these Cabinet minutes be an exception to the confidentiality of Cabinet discussions?
Not a point wholly without merit. It really needs a reading of the Information Commissioner’s decision that there were public interest grounds to publish them.
It is indicative of something that Jack Straw chose not to challenge whether the Information Commissioner/Tribunal had made a correct decision in law but to use his veto powers