News 2020
Putting the wind up the first draft of history
Academics and investigative journalists across the country have spoken out in favour of the Government's decision to introduce a "rolling 30-year rule" with respect to official secrets.
The original "30-year rule" was found to be inadequate, as it meant governments could keep information secret only for thirty years, unless there was something they particularly wished to censor.
"The old rule was both bureaucratic and inflexible," said journalist Pennethorne Wrigley. "It offered the worst of both worlds - governments couldn't use it to its full advantage, and journalists never received edited highlights of new revelations in official press releases."
The new rule means that the Government can simply let another thirty years "roll on" after the previous thirty years have expired. This means that journalists, historians and other researchers will be spared vast amounts of unnecessary labour which have hitherto been expended trawling through official archives.
"I can't tell you what a relief it is," said Cambridge historian Trumpery Pettifer. "The thirtieth anniversary of the first war of Iraqi liberation is coming up soon, and the thought of looking through all those dusty documents in the hope of scratching up material for a retrospective - well, it was really quite depressing."
The Government was also praised for its commitment to public safety and peace of mind. "Freedom of information is a rare and precious thing," said researcher and writer Clutterbuck Dribley last night.
"It's a great achievement of this government to have protected the ancient rights of the ordinary Briton as laid down in the Official Secrets Act, and at the same time prevented potential terrorists from finding out what happened three decades ago and using the information to inflict massive civilian casualties in congested urban areas," said Mr Dribley.
Academics and investigative journalists across the country have spoken out in favour of the Government's decision to introduce a "rolling 30-year rule" with respect to official secrets.
The original "30-year rule" was found to be inadequate, as it meant governments could keep information secret only for thirty years, unless there was something they particularly wished to censor.
"The old rule was both bureaucratic and inflexible," said journalist Pennethorne Wrigley. "It offered the worst of both worlds - governments couldn't use it to its full advantage, and journalists never received edited highlights of new revelations in official press releases."
The new rule means that the Government can simply let another thirty years "roll on" after the previous thirty years have expired. This means that journalists, historians and other researchers will be spared vast amounts of unnecessary labour which have hitherto been expended trawling through official archives.
"I can't tell you what a relief it is," said Cambridge historian Trumpery Pettifer. "The thirtieth anniversary of the first war of Iraqi liberation is coming up soon, and the thought of looking through all those dusty documents in the hope of scratching up material for a retrospective - well, it was really quite depressing."
The Government was also praised for its commitment to public safety and peace of mind. "Freedom of information is a rare and precious thing," said researcher and writer Clutterbuck Dribley last night.
"It's a great achievement of this government to have protected the ancient rights of the ordinary Briton as laid down in the Official Secrets Act, and at the same time prevented potential terrorists from finding out what happened three decades ago and using the information to inflict massive civilian casualties in congested urban areas," said Mr Dribley.
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