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NEU Senior Regional Support Officer
Tories shamed into U-turn on Freedom of Information

TORY ministers were shamed yesterday into shelving their plans to make the public pay to scrutinise the government.

The government launched a review of the Freedom of Information Act last July, claiming the current law did not recognise the “need for a ‘safe space’ for policy development.”

Charging fees to submit requests were among proposals considered, but Cabinet Office Minister Matt Hancock has now conceded that would be “inappropriate.”

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