Expenses scandal is a watershed for freedom of information

June 22nd, 2009

Transparency is no longer just an obsession for journalists and campaigners, writes Chris Ames
(more…)

Iraq: “A secret inquiry is storing up trouble”

June 16th, 2009

A private investigation into the Iraq war will only backfire on Gordon Brown, writes Chris Ames
(more…)

Good on spin, bad on justice

April 30th, 2009

The Ministry of Justice was more concerned with spinning the ‘Titan prisons’ controversy than complying with its own Freedom of Information Act, says
Chris Ames
(more…)

Freedom of information when it suits

April 8th, 2009

Why is British government trying to censor documents relating to the Iraq war it has already published, asks Chris Ames
(more…)

Iraq: the case for disclosure mounts

March 25th, 2009

Newly released documents reveal the very real need for an Iraq inquiry, says
Chris Ames
(more…)

Plane evasion

February 26th, 2009

It’s not just Jack Straw who’s playing fast and loose with freedom of information, says Chris Ames. Heathrow campaigners are finding it impossible to get a straight answer from the Department for Transport (more…)

The ministry and the message

February 6th, 2009

The curious case of Colonel Owen McNally, and the apparent attempt to smear human rights researcher Rachel Reid (right) take place within a wider crackdown on military and civilian personnel talking to the media in the run up to the next general election. It’s not only about stopping information getting out, but also making sure the right information gets out, says Chris Ames
(more…)

The Scarlett letter

November 5th, 2008

Chris Ames identifies a worrying trend in the government’s latest refusal to release documents under the Freedom of Information Act
(more…)

Dodgy and dodgier

February 20th, 2008

The release of a draft of the British government’s dossier on Iraqi weapons confirms suspicions but also raises more questions, writes Chris Ames

Monday’s release of the John Williams draft of the Iraq “weapons of mass destruction” dossier shows why the government fought for so long to suppress it. It proves what I have always suspected: that a spin doctor was in the thick of sexing up the document that took Britain to war. At the same time, Williams himself has shattered the Foreign Office case for not releasing the draft under the Freedom of Information Act.

We learn two things from the document. Firstly, Williams produced what became the dossier’s executive summary, which purported to set out the Joint Intelligence Committee’s (JIC) “judgments”. Secondly, and consequently, the draft is proved to have led to JIC chairman John Scarlett’s “first draft” the next day and therefore to the published dossier. The first shows that the government misled parliament in making the case for war. The second shows that the government misled the Hutton and Butler inquiries, and parliament again, to cover this up.

(more…)

Iraq dossier draft released

February 18th, 2008

The 2002 draft of the British government’s dossier on Saddam Hussein’s weapons capabilities has been released by the Foreign Office. The government had initially tried to keep the document confidential, but the Information Commissioner ruled that it had to comply with the Freedom of Information Act request of campaigner Chris Ames.

Read Chris Ames’s article “Unfinished Business” here

Read wmd dossier here

Victory for freedom of information campaigner

January 23rd, 2008

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has lost an appeal to prevent the release of a document that formed part of the government’s case for invading Iraq.

The document was written by John Williams, then Head of News at the Foreign Office. It formed part of the drafting process of the dossier ‘Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction’, which asserted that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction which could be deployed within 45 minutes. The dossier, published in 2002, was central to the government’s argument for invading Iraq. The furore which followed BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan’s claim that the document was ’sexed up’ led to the resignation of the director-general Greg Dyke and chairman Gavyn Davies after the publication of the Hutton Report.

The government had claimed that the dossier was the work of the Joint Intelligence Committee, but the draft is evidence that government spin doctors had a hand in the process.

(more…)