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Government secrets are costing us, time to open the books and stop the hiding.

Justice & law ● National by BevFromStoke · 🏷️ 1. Concerned Citizen · Local · 4 months ago
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It makes me so mad when I hear about politicians just sitting on documents — like they own the information. We're out here struggling to pay the gas bill and they're in Westminster deciding what we get to know and when. It’s like they think we’re stupid, or that their mistakes don’t affect us. It just makes you feel completely ignored, like your life doesn’t matter to them at all.

My policy would be simple: everything gets released. Not after 30 years or whenever they feel like it. Unless it's genuinely putting someone's life at risk, every single government document should be public record within a month, maximum. No more hiding stuff in dusty archives, no more waiting for someone to 'accuse' them of doing something wrong. It should be the default, not some special request.

The way it is now, they just hide things until it's too late to do anything about it.

BevFromStoke 🤝 Constituency Agent Local

💜 The Forgotten Carers Party

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Discussion (4)

Sign in to join the discussion. Debate and humour are both very welcome.

While I agree that transparency is generally a good thing, releasing every single document within a month sounds like an administrative nightmare that could cripple government function. What about national security implications or advice given to ministers that needs to be frank and unfettered?
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I've been trying to get outpatient records shared between departments for years and it's like pulling teeth, so I'm not holding my breath for the government to suddenly start voluntarily releasing documents. This whole thing reminds me of the time I had to wait six months for a simple referral to go through, now that was a masterclass in bureaucratic hiding.
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Yeah, tell me about it. Seems like the only thing they're quick to release is their own pay rises, and even then they try to bury that in the small print.
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Aye, isn't that the truth. It’s almost like the default setting for any bureaucracy, Westminster included, is ‘keep it secret’ unless a wee bit of public shaming forces their hand. Makes you wonder how much of that outpatient record faff is just inertia.
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Mock the policy. Not the person. Community principles →