WELL done to the Oxford Mail for taking up the right-to-know campaign. The Freedom of Information Act, passed by a Labour Government, is a key part of our democracy.

The Conservative Government is reviewing it only because they want to limit the right of the public to know.

Oxford City Council has often been on the receiving end of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. It does cost to supply the information, but the public have a right to know.

The threat of a FOI request revealed the scurrilous letters between the Prime Minister and Cllr Ian Hudspeth over children’s centres. Without that the whole scandal would have been kept under wraps.

Stopping journalists, politicians and the public finding out what public bodies are doing on our behalf makes no sense. It was the right to know which revealed MPs’ expenses, child abuse cover-ups and the extent of private contracts in the Health Service. Charging people for FOI requests, exempting more areas of government and allowing ministers to say ‘no’, is a threat to us all.

To my mind the FOI Act should be extended to cover large private companies too, especially as commercially sensitive information is already exempt.

Cllr JOHN TANNER (Labour)
City Councillor for Littlemore & County Councillor for Isis
Sunningwell Road, Oxford