British Government Orders E-Mail Purge

[Tinoire]

British Government Orders E-Mail Purge
From correspondents in London
18dec04

MILLIONS of e-mails to British government staff will be automatically wiped out on Monday, 11 days before freedom of information laws come into force, a newspaper reported Saturday.

The Cabinet Office, which supports Prime Minister Tony Blair and co-ordinates government policy, has ruled that e-mails more than three months old must be deleted from December 20, according to The Times.

(snip)

Although the deleted e-mails will be stored on back-up systems, these have been declared off limits to freedom of information requests because of the cost of accessing them, it added. The Conservative opposition party said Blair's Labour government was deliberately trying to destroy embarrassing information.

(snip)

The Cabinet Office insisted that the exercise was not related to the Freedom of Information Act but was "good records management practice," to stop files blocking the system.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,11725496%255E1702,00.html

[goclark]

1. My,my ...sounds like Bush Trick

How much longer before they can get Blair out of his position?

[fshrink]

4. Exact same inverted (re-framed) logic.

Not sure it's going to fly as well as here though...

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Yep. That's my thought. Good American CEO practices.

[Just Me]

2. Everyone other than the "governance" supports transparency/responsibility.

What do they fear?

[Tace]

3. Utter Bullshit

[Tinoire]

6. Connection: UK War Crimes in Iraq Examined by ICC

The connection?? http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1083555


UK 'war crimes' claims examined in The Hague

By Severin Carrell
19 December 2004


Claims that the UK has committed war crimes against Iraqi civilians are being examined by the International Criminal Court after complaints by a panel of legal experts.

In a letter seen by The Independent on Sunday, the chief prosecutor of the ICC in The Hague has described the war crimes allegations as "one of the most significant" cases he has seen, and were being given "deserved weight" by his investigators.

Luis Moreno Ocampo, the chief prosecutor, indicated that his office has now begun the formal process of gathering evidence about the claims and is now expected to ask the Government to explain its military strategy in Iraq.

(snip)

Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrats' foreign affairs spokesman, said the move would cause "profound concern" for the Government. Adam Price, the Plaid Cymru MP and one of the most prominent critics of the war, added: "This is a highly significant development."

(snip)


The panel alleged that Britain had illegally used cluster bombs in civilian areas and illegally targeted power stations, depriving civilians and hospitals of water supplies and electricity. They also allege that British use of depleted uranium armour-piercing shells was negligent.

(snip)

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=594580

[AP]

13. A document discovery order in a war crimes trial is completely different..

...from a FOI request.

Regardelss of their record keeping policies, they're still going to have to respond to document production orders in a trial.

In the run up to the election, I think you're going to find a lot of stories trying to make things that aren't nefarious sound nefarious.

Also, I doubt that much evidence of war crimes is going to be found in email.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. kick

[malaise]

8. War Crimes

That's why they need an election quickly. They cannot touch Sadam as invaders so they need a puppet regime. They also can't change tax laws and rip off Iraq some more without elections.
If international law still exists, these goons are in big trouble and cracks are sowing up everywhere.

[TeeYiYi]

9. kick

TYY:kick:

[cavanaghjam]

10. Is that the smell of fascism

spreading across the planet like a plague?

In the darkness democracy dies.

I'm saddened by the lack of protest in this country (the US) as nearly four years ago the Bushies forbad the release of the Reagan presidential papers. On the front page of every paper there should have been displayed daily, "It has been x number of days since our government decided the people have no right to know what has been done in their name." Historians everywhere should have been up in arms and out on a limb decrying this travesty even if it meant they would be personnae non grata among neocon thugs. The roots of tyranny are watered by complacency.

[lockdown]

11. Only government has a right to privacy

Thanks to the RIP Act and post 9/11 "enhancements" UK ISPs are mandated to retain email and other records for at least a year, with an increasing number of government agencies privy to that data. No doubt they'll end up cross referenced with the spiffing biometric database of the entire population they have planned. But govt. emails are different of course of course...

Given the tedious "nothing to fear" talking point of anti-privacy advocates (and this fucking government!), they obviously have something to hide.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

12. Rule #1 of crime: Hide the evidence. 'Past? What past?'

Since many of the neo-cons were around in the Nixon White House, that explains why they are so good at hiding their crimes against humanity.

Nixon foolishly left those tapes around. Not these war criminals.

They've mastered the 'Men In Black' tactic of making us forget what just happened so they can't be prosecuted for it and they can do it again.

[sweetheart]

14. Given what just happened to blunkett, its a bit suspicious

A cabinet minister was just forced to resign last week by emails
left in the system, and now the call for a purge by the cabinet
office.....

Hmmm.. golly, the coincincidences abound. The question is, whether
blunkett would have gotten off, had such a purge been done.

[bin.dare]

15. no, no, essentially unrelated ...

Blunkett was doing weird sexual liason stuff, he had to go, the visa for the nanny was just the excuse.

Hey, be happy he's gone, he was a lousy home sec, implemented most of Tony's neo-fascist new policies, but in the end sex was more important to him.

good riddance.

[NYC Liberal]

16. Ah, Bush has taught them well.

It's so nice to know that the stench emanating from the Wrong House is staining other countries as well. Or not.