§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received the draft White Paper on the Official Secrets Act and the Freedom of Information Act sent to him by the hon. Member for Newham, North-West; whether he will make a statement on the document; and if he will make it his policy, in line with those proposals, to move towards greater public access to official information.
707W
§ Mr. JohnI have written to my hon. Friend to say that we have read his document with interest. With regard to the second and third parts of his Question, I have suggested that he awaits publication of the White Paper on reform of Section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911, which I hope will contribute to the current debate on the availability of official information.