Results 1-20 of 47 for "freedom of information" speaker:Richard Shepherd

English Libel Law (Parliamentary Proceedings) — [Mr. Roger Gale in the Chair] (21 Oct 2009)

Richard Shepherd: ...security cases are being granted? That should be recorded and the intent and purpose behind it should be examined. I should declare an interest. I am a parliamentary co-chairman of the Campaign for Freedom of Information. One of the major issues in our country was to find out who was polluting rivers and causing noxious wastes. That was shrouded by section 2 of the Official Secrets Act. No...

Election of Speaker (22 Jun 2009) has video

Richard Shepherd: ...from the public that on the first great issue of trust—public finance, public money and knowledge of it—we failed. That means that, collectively, we are held in disregard. I believe in freedom of information. There is no way of shrugging that off. I believe that it was a great, great statute that the Labour Government introduced. I believe that although it seems our nemesis at...

Opposition Day: [Un-alloted half-day] — Dissolution of Parliament (10 Jun 2009) has video

Richard Shepherd: ..., but this Government have no purpose now. The reform of expenses has now been taken out of the hands of this House, effectively, because the people have thrown their derision and scorn at it. Freedom of information was mentioned, and one need only look at the list of those who voted, including Ministers, because they were available on a Friday. Whips were imposed by both parties—I...

Oral Answers to Questions — Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Freedom of Information Act 2000 (24 Feb 2009) has video

Richard Shepherd: When this provision was passed during a highly contentious debate on the Freedom of Information Bill in Committee on the Floor of the House, it was described by the then Home Secretary—the present Lord High Panjandrum—as "Executive override". We are now seeing the very heart of the defeat of what was that Bill. This is an exercise by the Executive to exclude full and proper debate...

Orders of the Day: Data Protection and Freedom of Information (24 Nov 2008) has video

Richard Shepherd: I believe that the Freedom of Information Act 2000 was one of the great glories of this Labour Government. When people come to look over the history of new Labour, they will hold that the pledge given on freedom of information, and the Act that was written and came into force, was one of the great accomplishments of the bright, early days of new Labour. The hon. Member for North Southwark...

Orders of the Day: Data Protection and Freedom of Information (24 Nov 2008) has video

Richard Shepherd: ...regarded as a fine public servant with a fine sense of public ethos? The statistics tickled out by the hon. Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey are important. They are sourced from the Campaign for Freedom of Information, its remarkable director Maurice Frankel and all those who have supported it; I see supporters of the campaign in the Chamber this evening. Although the Information...

Orders of the Day: Employment Bill [Lords] (14 Jul 2008) has video

Richard Shepherd: ...the other 730 claims—72 per cent. of all whistleblowing claims—remains shrouded in secrecy. Other than the numerical statistics, which can be obtained only by making a specific request under freedom of information legislation, there is nothing on public record about more than 70 per cent. of whistleblowing claims. There is no information about the nature of the concern, be it a...

Points of Order: Modernisation of the House of Commons (25 Oct 2007) has video

Richard Shepherd: ...what it has descended to. I remember Whitelaw wanting to know, meet and head off and genuinely engaging in debate. When Douglas Hurd was a Member of the House, however outrageous my opinions were on freedom of information, he engaged with them. I think of the repressiveness of the Home Office. My goodness, looking back, the Home Office was a bastion of liberality compared with the hurried...

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (18 May 2007)

Richard Shepherd: ...experience, a conclusion was reached: why should Parliament be excluded? The Government, on reflection, decided that Parliament should not be excluded, but they recognised, in the creation of the Freedom of Information Act, that it would need a long lead-in time—five years—so that public authorities could prepare themselves for publication. The legislation has been in force for...

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (20 Apr 2007)

Richard Shepherd: ...am mindful that the concept of "public authority" applies to almost everything that is important in our public processes and public life. As always, I am extraordinarily grateful to the Campaign for Freedom of Information for its diligence and pursuance of argument and reason. It lists, in a useful note, some of the public authorities that now give information that seems to trouble some...

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (20 Apr 2007)

Richard Shepherd: ...its way through—that our amendments succeed, even though it is a Friday and it is true that right hon. and hon. Members have many commitments in life. There are benefits, too, that the Campaign for Freedom of Information highlighted in the briefing that it sent out, including the argument that the disclosure of aggregate annual figures has already led to a reduction in the overall...

Orders of the Day: Clause 1 — Exemption of House of Commons and House of Lords (20 Apr 2007)

Richard Shepherd: ...promoter of the Bill's objections to the substance of the amendments, and would therefore be up to responding adequately on behalf of we who support the amendments. There is a difficulty because the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is an important Act, which the Bill promoted by my right hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (David Maclean) would amend, and which we, in turn,...

Freedom of Information (Fees Regulation) (7 Feb 2007)

Richard Shepherd: ...debate on an incredibly important issue. If one thing signified a change of Government and a change of spirit in the nation, it was when new Labour held out as one of its flagship initiatives its freedom of information legislation. The right hon. Gentleman referred to a quotation by the Prime Minister from before he was the Prime Minister, and I shall do likewise. In 1996, the Prime...

Business of the House (12 Oct 2006)

Richard Shepherd: The Leader of the House will well remember those bright days of "Your Right to Know"—the Government White Paper of which he was a signatory; indeed, he steered the freedom of information legislation through the House. Has he had an opportunity to read early-day motion 2699? [That this House welcomes the finding of the Constitutional Affairs Committee (HC991) that the Freedom of...

Whistleblowing (5 Apr 2005)

Mr Richard Shepherd: ...have laboured long to bring about the legislation. It is a merit that the Government supported the measure and introduced it, allied with the other great measure that complements and reinforces it: freedom of information. I hate the word "empowerment", but these measures lift a society. We are equal citizens, and we believe in an ethical, good and just society. That is the principle behind...

Freedom of Information (9 Jun 2004)

Mr Richard Shepherd: I am grateful both to have secured this debate and that the Minister is here to respond. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 was a flagship piece of legislation for the Labour Government, which fulfilled heroic, long-term pledges to institute such legislation. It will come fully into force in January 2005. That long-awaited reform gives the public the essential right to know what Government...

Freedom of Information (9 Jun 2004)

Mr Richard Shepherd: That is the basis of the whole debate, and I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for pointing that out. I know that Constitutional Affairs Ministers recognise the importance of the Freedom of Information Act and are genuinely committed to its success. If there is pressure to raise the fees, I am sure that it is coming from elsewhere. I hope that the Minister will recognise, even if those...

Human Rights Commission (15 May 2003)

Mr Richard Shepherd: One is part of a public process of citizens taking on the advocacy of special interests: freedom of information, public concern at work, or disability groups. It is not a campaign set up and organised by the state. I give a cheer to those campaigns that are not part of the Government, but are emanations of citizens' individual judgments and decisions on major matters of public policy. They...

Orders of the Day — Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Bill (19 Nov 2001)

Mr Richard Shepherd: ...have been a Member of Parliament. Against our traditions, we are the security state non plus ultra in the western democratic world. One has only to look at everything that we now do: we cannot have freedom of information in the way that the former Secretary of State proposed in a White Paper. Why not? Because we have more secrets and sensitive matters than any other common law country....

Orders of the Day — Local Government (23 Jan 2001)

Mr Richard Shepherd: ...Chase (Tony Wright) show that there is unease about the drafting of the regulations. The hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) made a pretty good fist of outlining the anxieties of the Campaign for Freedom of Information about the measure, and my hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne (Mr. Waterson) did likewise by highlighting the detail of some of those arguments. I do not intend to read the...