Every so often we hear the words "transparent", "honest" and "open" muttered from the mouths of government officials, national and local.

But don't believe a word of it. There are still many things they don't want you to know.

The Freedom of Information Act was a welcome piece of legislation, long-promised by Labour - and when it became law it forced scores of organisations and public bodies to open up to closer public scrutiny.

Now we have what appears to be a thinly-veiled attempt by Whitehall movers and shakers to make it more difficult for individuals - the Press included - to obtain information on matters of public interest.

Call it censorship by the back door.

If changes to the Act are passed, Government departments or town halls could withhold information and claim that gathering, reading and processing documents went over the set time/cost tariff.

It is a shabby piece of thinking.

The results of Government consultation on "allowing public authorities to take into account more comprehensively the work involved in dealing with an FoI request" is due later this year.

It should make fascinating reading.

But haven't we been here before?

In May, Tory and Labour foes put aside their differences to club together and support a move to place Parliament outside the scope of the Freedom of Information Act - effectively making a lot more of their business secret.

The anti-democratic move was originated in a Private Member's Bill by Tory MP David Maclean.

His Bill would have meant MPs' expenses claims would no longer be published, stories like Gordon Brown's pensions grab - which affected millions of ordinary people - would never have seen the light of day and the people we voted into Parliament would be free to operate as they pleased, without scrutiny or challenge.

This nasty piece of legislation is unnecessary, but is not yet law.

Let's hope it never is.