Tag Archives: information tribunal

Cabinet minutes on Iraq 2: Can you guess what Dominic Grieve said next?

By Mark Pack | Wed 25th February 2009 - 9:50 am

So there he was, sat in the House of Commons listening to Jack Straw announce his decision to veto the Information Tribunal’s decision that the Cabinet minutes of the decision to go to war in Iraq should be released.

Up he then got, and this is what Dominic Grieve said:

The Secretary of State’s decision to use his powers of veto in this case classically illustrates what has been wrong with the Government’s approach to freedom of information.

and

The public have had their expectations about openness raised by Labour’s spin and propaganda, only to be brought down to earth.

and

Does

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Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged david cameron, david davis, dominic grieve, freedom of information, iraq and jack straw | Leave a comment

Cabinet minutes on Iraq 1: Straw vetoes, Lib Dems oppose

By Mark Pack | Wed 25th February 2009 - 8:50 am

The big Parliamentary news yesterday was the announcement by Jack Straw that he was over-ruling an Information Tribunal ruling and taking the unprecedented step of withholding information they had ordered should be released – the minutes of the Cabinet meetings which decided to go to war with Iraq.

The move was opposed by the Liberal Democrats, with David Howarth leading the charge:

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.

There never has been a full and comprehensive public inquiry into the decision to go

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