Martin Rosenbaum tells us that if you want to get really detailed financial documents from your local council, there is a much more powerful tool than the Freedom of Information Act - but blink and you may miss the chance to use it. It's the Audit Commission Act in England, which gives you the right to see the accounts and all the accompanying financial documents for the council's audit. In Scotland it's the Local Authority Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 1985; in Wales the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004; and in Northern Ireland the Local Government (Accounts and Audits) Regulations (NI) 2006.   more »

On Friday 4th July, Bob Geldorf made a powerful speech in support of David Davis's Liberty campaign to an audience in Hull Guildhall. The Press have unilaterally ignored it, apart from a few who have acknowledged that Geldorf was there, not one publisher has printed his speech (not that I can find), possibly the most powerful in many years. In order to redress that in some small way, I want to give this the widest possible audience and so you can read it here, and of course on the David Davis campaign website.   more »