There is an elegant symmetry in the two current tussles betleen the judiciary and the executive.
The legal profession in the ugly form of Carter-Ruck* have failed to gag Parliament from mentioning the Minton Report.
Government has been prevented by a High Court judgment for trying to withhold information about Binyam Mohammed's torture.
Bit of a Tweedledum and Tweedledee situation, except that it is all so serious. In both cases, there is an attempt to hide evidence of wrongdoing.
The Minton Report reveals that expert opinion commissioned by Trafigura warned them that their toxic sludge was capable of causing widespread illness and death, and contravened European Council Directive 1999/31.
The Government is going to appeal against the high Court decision, because the US State Department is going to be cross with them, so cross indeed that it is prepared to cut off its own nose by refusing to share information with us. Oo-er.
The UK has the most savage libel laws, and our Freedom of Information Act was dragged out of a reluctant Government with the utmost difficulty.
Transparency is one of the core characteristics of true democracy. The opposition of the ruling elites in Britain is a worrying symptom of a poor grasp of what democracy is about, and this is especially depressing when we remember that our Government is so ready to kill and maim so many people in brown-skinned nations all in the name of democracy.
Oh what a stinky web we weave
When first we practice to deceive.
*Ruck means "wank" in Dutch, I learn today.
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