It does not lead to the disclosure of any state secrets: the tight exemptions regime takes care of that Nor does it lead to a flood of requests at the start. But if other countries are anything to go by, they need not be quite so fearful. The UK is going down a well-trodden road, blazed 30 years ago by the US; 20 years ago by Australia, Canada and New Zealand; and five years ago by Ireland. Instead, we are to have full implementation in one big bang; and with exquisite irony, the Prime Minister’s postponement means the Act will now come into force in the run-up to the next general election.Ministers are bracing themselves for the worst. It is Tony Blair who insisted on the five-year wait, against the advice first of Jack Straw and then of Derry Irvine, who both argued for earlier and phased implementation, which would have allowed the Act to bed-in by now.
The Cabinet Office is said to be destroying all e-mails more than three months old, leading the Information Commissioner to intervene. The Budd inquiry shows up the inadequacy of record keeping by ministerial private offices.
We can expect many more of these stories after 1 January, when the Freedom of Information Act 2000 comes finally into force. Panic stations in Whitehall. We need enlightened attitudes to ensure that in a democracy we do not isolate communities..
We cannot condemn Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs as being illiberal in a society in which racial and religious discrimination is rife and people often take shelter within their religious structure. We often fail to understand that free speech in a libertarian society carries responsibilities with it. It is the most majestic temple whose principal belief is in non-violence.These incidents have all hurt the deepest feelings of those who practise those different religions. A statement was made by Mr Jagdeesh Singh against the Swaminarayan Hindu mission alleging that the Neasden temple had become a base for the terrorist activities of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. They were not against the play as such, but against identifying such an incident in a gurdwara, which is sacrosanct to their beliefs.The third relates to evidence given to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 14 December. The book caused deep rumbling among Muslims offended by its content, prompting protests, book burning and even riots The second example happened last weekend. The Sikh community laid siege to a theatre with the intention of cancelling a play depicting sex abuse and murder in a Sikh temple.
