Tony Blair on Freedom of Information

Tony Blair on Freedom of Information

In Tony Blair's latest book he regards the Freedom of Information Act as of no use to anyone but journalists who use it as a weapon to beat the government:

"Three harmless words. I look at those words as I write them, and feel like shaking my head till it drops off my shoulders, you idiot. You naive, foolish, irresponsible nincompoop. There is really no description of stupidity, no matter how vivid, that is adequate ... Where was Sir Humphrey when I needed him?"

See also Martin Rosenbaum's recent blog post ("Why Tony Blair thinks he was an idiot") where Blair is quoted as saying about FoI, "For political leaders, it's like saying to someone who is hitting you over the head with a stick, 'Hey, try this instead', and handing them a mallet."  

In his Guardian interview to promote his book, Blair said:

"If you are trying to take a difficult decision and you're weighing up the pros and cons, you have frank conversations... And if those conversations then are put out in a published form that afterwards are liable to be highlighted in particular ways, you are going to be very cautious. That's why it's not a sensible thing."