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Oct 26, 2021 10 tweets 6 min read Read on X
🔴 LIVE: Our reporter @JennaCorderoy is about to give evidence to the @CommonsPACAC as part of its inquiry into the ‘Orwellian’ Clearing House.

You can watch it here: parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/04…

We will bring you all the key updates in this thread 👇 Image
This inquiry was launched after we revealed that the Clearing House - a secretive Cabinet Office unit - was accused of ‘blacklisting’ Freedom of Information requests from journalists, campaigners and others
opendemocracy.net/en/freedom-of-…
"The Cabinet Office is fuelling a culture of secrecy," explains @JennaCorderoy.

"It is simply not respecting the law."

When we raised our concerns in our reports #ArtOfDarkness and #AccessDenied, our findings were dismissed Image
"FOI is incredibly important. I need it as an investigative journalist to get documents and data to support what I am writing. But it is not only important to me, it is important to the public. It allows people to hold those in power to account"
Talking about the members of the Clearing House, Ronnie Cowan MP asks: "Do we know who they are? Or should I put in an FOI to find out?"

The truth is, we don't know. 🤷

We are trying to find this out, but they keep refusing our requests
But we're not giving up. ✊

This entire parliamentary inquiry was brought about as a direct result of our investigations.

It's time-consuming work, and we need your support to make it happen: bit.ly/backopendem
Also giving evidence is Times journalist @GeorgeGreenwood, who is in a number of Information Commissioner battles with the Cabinet Office.

Here he talks about his experience 👇
The Clearing House also blocked the release of sensitive files about the contaminated blood scandal.

Documents show that the Treasury wanted to release the information, but were prevented from releasing by the Cabinet Office unit.

Read the full story: opendemocracy.net/en/freedom-of-…
"Delays are incredibly bad and there's no repercussions for the Cabinet Office."

Delays mean we can't get hold of vital data and we can't keep our readers informed
What could be done to improve the system?

"FOI needs a huge reform," says @JennaCorderoy.

"The Clearing House needs to publish more documents about how they operate, their budget, their structure. These are basic public interest questions" Image

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More from @openDemocracy

May 24, 2023
🚨 The Cabinet Office is refusing to hand information about Boris Johnson’s latest alleged lockdown breaches to the official Covid-19 inquiry 👇 @RubyJLL
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@RubyJLL 🔴 The Cabinet Office has also removed key details from evidence already shared with the inquiry, a damning letter from the inquiry’s chair has revealed
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May 24, 2023
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May 22, 2023
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🔴 Gros’s lawyers insisted that all the PPE the company had supplied was “fit for purpose and use”, suggesting the Department of Health and Social Care may have been mistaken in its record-keeping
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Nov 20, 2022
🏳️‍⚧️ Today is Transgender Day of Rememberance #TDOR #TDoR2022
We wish to remember and honour the lives of trans people who have been lost to transphobic violence.
This 🧵 includes some of the work published by @openDemocracy surrounding trans rights and more ⤵️
🏆 This feature by @shefalirafiq_ provides a glimpse into the lives of trans people in Kashmir. It received the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity
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Nov 18, 2022
🔴 Jeremy Hunt's #AutumnStatement could mean a 'winter of hardship' for many
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💰 The government estimates capping social rents will save it £630m over five years.
⛔️ Private rents, however, will remain unregulated.
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🔎 @openDemocracy previously revealed that housing associations had lobbied the government not to cap social rents too low.
Meanwhile, these associations were paying paying their executives nearly £300,000 a year each. 👇
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Sep 27, 2022
🔴 EXCLUSIVE: Weapons firms install 50 staff inside the Ministry of Defence

🧵 Thread ⤵️
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The UK's biggest weapons manufacturer, BAE systems, pays the salaries of nine staffers on long-term secondment. Some of them have been embedded inside the department for years.
The government would not say whether the secondment scheme represented a conflict of interest.
Read 8 tweets

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