The sort of case its probably worth making an application for costs against the Home Office...

Its a high bar for FOI cases but this might meet it.

Interesting First-Tier Tribunal judgment published last week showing the Home Office claimed in response to FOI from Maya Esslemont that it intended to publish the info requested; then when asked for evidence was unable to prove it had decided as such pre-FOI request.

The SFO mistakenly wiped its former director Lisa Osofsky's mobile phone despite having to preserve documents for a lawsuit brought by Kazakh mining company ENRC.

These kinds of farces expose the SFO to litigation and prevent it from doing its job.

reuters.com/legal/legalind…

I worked as a teacher for a month at a school run by conspiracists who believed they were battling a sinister plot against humanity. The children were taught that crystals could cure them of illnesses and that Bill Gates was going to force them to eat insects.

Here’s the story:

It turns out from her book that ⁦Liz Truss⁩ is not much of an enthusiast for FOI and open government … (h/t: ⁦ben worthy⁩)

goodo

MPs Chris Bryant and Nick Smith MP both raised this issue at minister's questions this morning.

Oliver Dowden declied to offer any comment at the dispatch box...

A great example of improvements at the ICO under the new Commissioner and team.

A lot more to do, but a sign of the ICO taking its role as transparency enforcer much more seriously.

My quote in this article:
“The public is entitled to know whether government ministers can fulfil their role properly. Lord Cameron has to accept that this loss of privacy goes along with him returning to a vitally important public position.”

The Foreign Office is refusing to share details of Cameron’s work on China.

The department will not reveal whether the foreign secretary has recused himself from parts of the role due to conflicts of interest

thetimes.co.uk/article/foreig…

BREAKING Chris Cash, the Parliamentary aide accused of spying for China, is to been charged with espionage offences. He will appear in mags court on Friday. He will face charges alongside Christopher Berry.

If you want to see what I think is one of the worst, and likely straight up unlawful, responses to a legitimate FOI request I have ever seen, have a look at how Wadham College responded to one student journalist...

cherwell.org/2024/04/21/oxf…

I’m delighted to be on the shortlist for the European Press Prize this year, for my work with Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and crew on the #RotenbergFiles

europeanpressprize.com/shortlists/yea…