Ministers advised to make use of Post-it notes to keep away from Freedom of Information requests | EUROtoday

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Ministers in Tony Blair’s authorities had been suggested to make use of Post-it notes for delicate messages to keep away from having to launch them below new Freedom of Information, in accordance newly-released official recordsdata.

The Labour authorities had initially handed the Freedom of Information Act in 2000 however as the complete implementation date approached on January 1 2005 there was rising disquiet amongst ministers and senior officers on the implications.

One No 10 adviser, wrote to Mr Blair suggesting Post-it notes – which may presumably then be thrown away as soon as the message had been learn – as a approach of getting around the requirement to reveal official materials in response to FoI requests.

“I also think Cab Ministers will want to make sure that Perm Secs are gripping this and information does not just filter out of the machine,” she wrote.

“Also people will want to give consideration to the vast array of emails etc…

“Post-it notes are the answer!”

Mr Blair subsequently regarded the FoI Act as considered one of his biggest errors as prime minister, writing in his memoirs that he had been a “naive, foolish, irresponsible nincompoop”.

Meanwhile, three gilt-edged volumes of No 10 guests’ books, protecting the years 1970, when Edward Heath was prime minister, to 2003 when Tony Blair was in workplace, have been launched to the National Archives at Kew, west London.

Over that point, princes and potentates, presidents and prime ministers, heroes – and a few determined villains – all left their mark for posterity.

When the late Queen visited she would signal herself Elizabeth R, whereas the current King and his then spouse had been merely Charles and Diana.

open picture in gallery

The illustrious listing of names contains successive US presidents from Jimmy Carter by way of Ronald Reagan, George Bush senior and Bill Clinton to George Bush junior.

At the tip of his go to in 1989, the elder Mr Bush wrote: “With respect, friendship, and gratitude for this relationship that means so much” to which his spouse, Barbara, added: “Me too.”

In 1996 South Africa’s president Nelson Mandela famous “Visiting Downing St, No 10, is always an unforgettable experience” whereas Czech president Vaclav Havel added a coronary heart signal below his identify.

Two significantly outstanding pages commemorate the 250th anniversary of No 10 in 1985.

The first is signed by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who signed himself Philip.

The going through web page is then signed by all 5 surviving former prime ministers, Harold Macmillan, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath and James Callaghan, in addition to the then incumbent Margaret Thatcher.

Other notable guests over time included Sir Winston Churchill’s widow, Clementine, the Second World War commander Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, and Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.

Among these little doubt much less fondly remembered are the infamous Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe.