Gold9472
01-28-2009, 09:43 AM
U.K. Ordered to Release Records of Blair’s War Cabinet Meetings
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=a8wauSytoz6c&refer=uk
By Mark Deen and Kitty Donaldson
Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The British government was ordered to release records of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Cabinet meetings before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The Information Tribunal, which is responsible for enforcing transparency-in-government laws, upheld a decision requiring publication of details of the meetings on March 13 and March 17, 2003. The government can appeal the decision within 28 days to the U.K. High Court.
“We have decided that the public interest in maintain the confidentiality of the formal minutes of two Cabinet meeting at which ministers decided to commit forces to military action in Iraq did not ... outweigh the public interest in disclosure,” the tribunal said today in its ruling in London.
The decision returns the spotlight to an unpopular war that has faded from headlines since Blair left office in 2007 and concerns about the economy shot to the top of the political agenda.
If published, the minutes of the meetings may show the extent to which Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was chancellor at the time, backed Blair’s decision to support the American-led invasion of Iraq.
The government argued that the minutes should be kept private on the grounds of national security. A majority of the 14 people on the Information Tribunal voted to publish the minutes, noting the decision was made “not without difficulty.”
“We concluded that there was a strong public interest in maintaining the confidentiality of the information,” the tribunal said. “However, this is an exceptional case. The circumstances of which brought together a combination of factors that were so important that, in combination, they created very powerful public interest reasons why disclosure was in the public interest.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=a8wauSytoz6c&refer=uk
By Mark Deen and Kitty Donaldson
Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The British government was ordered to release records of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Cabinet meetings before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The Information Tribunal, which is responsible for enforcing transparency-in-government laws, upheld a decision requiring publication of details of the meetings on March 13 and March 17, 2003. The government can appeal the decision within 28 days to the U.K. High Court.
“We have decided that the public interest in maintain the confidentiality of the formal minutes of two Cabinet meeting at which ministers decided to commit forces to military action in Iraq did not ... outweigh the public interest in disclosure,” the tribunal said today in its ruling in London.
The decision returns the spotlight to an unpopular war that has faded from headlines since Blair left office in 2007 and concerns about the economy shot to the top of the political agenda.
If published, the minutes of the meetings may show the extent to which Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was chancellor at the time, backed Blair’s decision to support the American-led invasion of Iraq.
The government argued that the minutes should be kept private on the grounds of national security. A majority of the 14 people on the Information Tribunal voted to publish the minutes, noting the decision was made “not without difficulty.”
“We concluded that there was a strong public interest in maintaining the confidentiality of the information,” the tribunal said. “However, this is an exceptional case. The circumstances of which brought together a combination of factors that were so important that, in combination, they created very powerful public interest reasons why disclosure was in the public interest.”