Monday, February 13, 2006

Craig Murray - Declaration and Publication

Just a brief one, awhileback Craig Murray's problems were discussed here and elsewhere, was going to shut down when I read the last few windows I had open; this and especially this are well worth the read:
Finally, you threaten me with the Official Secrets Act. I am confident I am not breaking it. And if you really want to ask a jury of twelve honest citizens to send me to prison for campaigning against torture, good luck to you.
As I said before, [maybe] Murray is nothing but a self-publicist, that he only seeks to sell his book. OK. That may, in fact, be true. But his book is telling the story of his experiences with an oppressive, nasty regime, and our govts complicity in keeping that regime in power. Even if he is only out for himself (which is not my reading), I don't care. I want that story to be told.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Britain has an entrenched culture of secrecy - the government is answerable to noone except at election time, and even then, it seems, only when there is a viable alternative waiting in the wings.

The Freedom of Information Act can't correct this on its own because it's swimming against the tide, and it's in no government's best interests (at least in the short term) to disclose its mistakes and more unsavoury dealings.

To sort this one out comprehensively we'd need a constitutional settlement that made it clear that the government is the servant of the people, rather than the queen's representative with all the discretion that that implies.

The Official Secrets Act is a national embarrassment, if only because it allowed a book as bad as "Spycatcher" to become an international bestseller.