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Camden New Journal - by RICHARD OSLEY
Published: 24 May 2007

Dobbo misses vote on FoI bill

HOLBORN MP Frank Dobson is battling accusations of secrecy after not raising any resistance at all to controversial amendments to the Freedom of Information Act.
He did not join the opposition bill passed in the House of Commons on Friday which allows MPs to keep their expenses and work correspondence under wraps.
While Hampstead MP Glenda Jackson and Islington MP Jeremy Corbyn fought the bill, Mr Dobson stayed away from Parliament.
He said on Tuesday he would be happy for his expenses to be released but that his constituency casework papers and private correspondence had to stay secret.
Mr Dobson said the Data Protection Act did not offer enough protection for people he was helping and that if he was dealing with a harassment case, information about victims could potentially find its way into the public domain.
He said: “I know that some people who may be suffering from domestic violence, organised crime, harassment, forced marriage or racist abuse will only give me full details of their problem if I can guarantee that other people won’t know who raised the issue with me.
The Freedom of Information Act was brought into law two and a half years ago and allows the public access to documents and correspondence held by public bodies. Friday’s amendment was tabled by Conservative MP David Maclean and is designed to make MPs exempt from the system.
Ms Jackson said on Tuesday: “It is an attack on democracy and it was passed on a Friday afternoon when MPs have headed back to their constituencies for the weekend.
“We are now relying on the House of Lords to make changes to it which is pretty ridiculous when we are saying that the House of Lords is unelected but we are relying on peers to help preserve democracy.”
Liberal Democrat Jo Shaw, who will take on Mr Dobson at the next general election, said: “The Freedom of Information Amendment Bill is an extremely dangerous threat to parliamentary accountability and open government.
“It is shocking that Mr Dobson did not attend the debate or even vote.”

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