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Tory advisers allowed to ‘approve’ government Freedom of Information replies

Exclusive: Campaigners criticise ‘deeply suspicious’ practice that allows SpAds to vet transparency disclosures

Tory advisers allowed to ‘approve’ government Freedom of Information replies
Political figures are screening FOI responses in at least five government departments | Howard Lake via Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0
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Conservative Party advisers are being allowed to vet government documents before they are released under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

Emails obtained by openDemocracy show that political figures are screening information in at least five government departments, which transparency campaigners warn is “deeply suspicious”.

The findings follow openDemocracy’s new report, ‘Access Denied’, which exposes the extent of the government's attack on FOI.