Not content with wasting billions of public funds in aborted, late or screwed up projects,  regulations and rules, this Government now wants to limit your right to get the facts about what it is doing, and do it quickly and quietly.

It would appear that the Department for Constitutional Affairs is attempting to pull a fast one and introduce new, more restrictive regulations on freedom of information, with changes to the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act, and slip it in whilst MP’s are away on their Easter break.

It is understood that Baroness Ashton of Upholland, the minister responsible, told a recent meeting of the DCA Information Rights User Group that she chairs, that the new regulations would be laid before Parliament on 19 March, with the intention that they come into force on 17 April.

It is only once the regulations are laid before Parliament, MPs and Peers will have a chance to object to them, and due to the Easter recess Parliament will not be sitting between 29 March and 16 April.

The DCA press office has apparently refused to confirm this timetable publicly, advising that they won't comment on what is said at User Group meetings. So much for freedom of information.

The link for the Consultation Document is here.  Download it, read it, understand it, and make your voice heard by responding to the DCA and petition your local MP to make sure that your views on yet another piece of restrictive legislation is acted upon.