First Blow Against Govt Secrecy

Bwood_Horn · Oct 26, 2021

High Court has given permission for a challenge to be made against the govt for continually using private emails, sms, txt services for conducting govt business:

https://goodlawproject.org/update/high-court-private-email-whatsapp/

Moose · Oct 26, 2021

Bwood_Horn said: ↑

High Court has given permission for a challenge to be made against the govt for continually using private emails, sms, txt services for conducting govt business:

https://goodlawproject.org/update/high-court-private-email-whatsapp/
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Johnson and his crew have written the book on unaccountable Government. It needs to be torn up. Let’s hope this is a start.

Bwood_Horn · Dec 1, 2021

In, loosely, related news the government has hit the Good Law Project with a shock legal bill in their challenge with Runnymede over their appointment of Conservative Peer Dido Harding and her ex-colleague Mike Coupe to run the disastrous Test and Trace programme – without open competition.

Remember that's Dido "£37nb" Harding and the "...no discernable benefit..." test and trace programme.

Moose · Dec 1, 2021

Bwood_Horn said: ↑

In, loosely, related news the government has hit the Good Law Project with a shock legal bill in their challenge with Runnymede over their appointment of Conservative Peer Dido Harding and her ex-colleague Mike Coupe to run the disastrous Test and Trace programme – without open competition.

Remember that's Dido "£37nb" Harding and the "...no discernable benefit..." test and trace programme.
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We’ve no longer got Aarhus in order.

The whole thing stinks.

Lloyd · Dec 1, 2021

Fancy having 'my responsibilities included setting up and running the Government's Covid-19 Test and Trace programme' on your CV. I think you'd better off with 'throughout 2020-2022 I was locked up for being a paedophile'

Moose · Dec 1, 2021

Lloyd said: ↑

Fancy having 'my responsibilities included setting up and running the Government's Covid-19 Test and Trace programme' on your CV. I think you'd better off with 'throughout 2020-2022 I was locked up for being a paedophile'
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Having trousered quite so much of our money it's unlikely the participants will need a CV or to ever work again.

Bwood_Horn · Feb 22, 2022

Moose said: ↑

Johnson and his crew have written the book on unaccountable Government. It needs to be torn up. Let’s hope this is a start.
Click to expand...

Government has just announced that it wants 'oversight' of the totally independent Electoral Commission.

Date: 21 February 2022

To:
The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP - Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Communities and Housing
The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP - Minister for Levelling Up Communities
The Rt Hon Lord True CBE - Minister of State, the Cabinet Office

From:
John Pullinger – Chair and Electoral Commissioner
Sarah Chambers - Electoral Commissioner
Rob Vincent - Electoral Commissioner
Dame Sue Bruce - Electoral Commissioner (Scotland)
Professor Dame Elan Closs Stephens - Electoral Commissioner (Wales)
Dr Katy Radford - Electoral Commissioner (Northern Ireland)
Alex Attwood - Electoral Commissioner (nominated by the smaller parties)
Alasdair Morgan - Electoral Commissioner (nominated by the Scottish National Party)
Joan Walley - Electoral Commissioner (nominated by the Labour Party)

Format: Sent by email

Dear Ministers,

As the Elections Bill enters its Lords stages, we write to you to urge the Government to reconsider those measures which seek to change the oversight arrangements of the Electoral Commission. Our aim, which we anticipate you share, is to maintain the Commission’s current independence and its accountability to all parties elected to the parliaments of the United Kingdom. Reflecting the significance of this matter, this letter is signed collectively from the full board of the Commission, save for Lord Gilbert of Panteg (our Conservative nominated Commissioner) because the House of Lords where he sits is now considering this legislation.

It is our firm and shared view that the introduction of a Strategy and Policy Statement – enabling the Government to guide the work of the Commission – is inconsistent with the role that an independent electoral commission plays in a healthy democracy. This independence is fundamental to maintaining confidence and legitimacy in our electoral system.

If made law, these provisions will enable a government in the future to influence the Commission’s operational functions and decision-making. This includes its oversight and enforcement of the political finance regime, but also the advice and guidance it provides to electoral administrators, parties and campaigners, and its work on voter registration. The Statement would place a duty on the Commission to have regard to the government’s strategic and policy priorities and to help the government to meet those priorities. The Statement would also place a duty on the Commission to have regard to guidance issued by the Government relating to any of its functions. It would thereby provide a mechanism, driven by the then governing party, enabling that party’s ministers to shape how electoral law is applied to them and their political competitors. While the stated position of the current government is that it would not intend to use these powers to impact on the Commission’s independent oversight and regulation of the electoral system, no such assurances can be given about how the broad scope of these powers would be used over time.

The Statement has no precedent in the accountability arrangements of electoral commissions in other comparable democracies, such as Canada, Australia or New Zealand. Indeed, the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters of the Venice Commission, of which the UK is a member, states that “Only transparency, impartiality and independence from political motivated manipulation will ensure proper administration of the election process”.

The Commission’s accountability is direct to the UK’s parliaments and should remain so, rather than being subject to government influence. The current mechanism for scrutiny and accountability to UK Parliament – with parallel arrangements in the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd – is through the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, a cross party committee which scrutinises the Commission’s financial, operational and strategic planning. This is appropriate and we would welcome such additional scrutiny as the Speaker’s Committee saw fit to take into account government and other views on the priorities and performance of the Commission, in determining that the Corporate Plan and work of the Commission is focussed and delivers on its statutory obligations. This would meet the Government’s stated objective of more effective and full accountability to Parliament, while maintaining a cross party setting.

We therefore urge the Government to think again about these measures, to remove the provisions, and to work with the Commission and Speaker’s Committee to ensure that suitable accountability arrangements are in place to ensure confidence across the political spectrum. Strong accountability is essential for this, but so too is demonstrable independence. The Commission’s independent role in the electoral system must be clear for voters and campaigners to see, and preserved in electoral law.
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Moose · Feb 22, 2022

Bwood_Horn said: ↑

Government has just announced that it wants 'oversight' of the totally independent Electoral Commission.
Click to expand...

There are a number of spheres where the Government’s stated desire for ‘modern’ or ‘flexible’ regulation means changes where it can directly influence what regulators do. The most obvious was at OFCOM where it sought to simply put its own man in charge.

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First Blow Against Govt Secrecy

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