Jack Straw Vetoes Democracy

I have always found it very difficult to understand how a democratic government in a free society can claim ownership of the discussion that take place in cabinet. We pay the wages of these people and they work for us. We have every right to know exactly what they say and the reasons they give for taking the positions they do.

So, I was disappointed to see that Jack Straw, the justice secretary, has used a clause in the Freedom Of Information act to veto the requirement of an Information Tribunal last month that the details of the cabinet meetings which led to the Iraq war should be published.

He claims that release of the papers would do serious damage to cabinet government in the future. I find this hard to reconcile with the idea that people are responsible for their actions and ministers and government are accountable to the people.

Every word of every MP and minister should be available to the public in a free society and any exceptions should be only in the interests of the country and should be carefully scrutinized by an independent body to ensure there is good reason not to publish.

They work for us and should not be ashamed of their actions and frightened to admit what they have done as appears to be the case here.

There is an excellent article about this at the Guardian Newspaper Website