Utter farce

Last night I posted a new story for Index on Censorship online about how ministers and officials at the DfT lied to conceal a letter about BAA's lobbying for a third Heathrow runway. I also did a piece for Comment is Free.

FOI in tatters

Late yesterday I posted a blog piece on IndyMinds, asking, Is this the worst FOI response ever?

The Department for Transport has refused to let me have a copy of a letter sent by the BAA chief executive to transport secretary Geoff Hoon, on the grounds that its contents are already in the public domain, in the form of a BAA press release. The DfT is not so much witholding the information as:

"providing information in a format different than the format requested"

under the Environmental Information Regulations.

Plane obstructive

I've just posted a new piece on the Index on Censorship website:

It’s not just Jack Straw who’s playing fast and loose with freedom of information, says Chris Ames. Heathrow campaigners are finding it impossible to get a straight answer from the Department for Transport

Yes, it matters

Yesterday's stunning Guardian story about the conspiracy between the Department for Transport and aviation lobby group Flying Matters didn't get half the attention it deserved and to be honest I'm only just catching up with it. The Guardian has got hold of Flying Matters documents showing that:

Civil servants at the Department for Transport (DfT) asked a top aviation lobby group [Flying Matters] for help to win the parliamentary battle over keeping aircraft emissions out of key climate change legislation

This is one government department using outside lobbyists to undermine another department's bill, which is pretty outrageous. The lobbyists also offered help to the all party parliamentary aviation group, something it only partially denied:

Michelle di Leo denied the suggestion Flying Matters had offered funding. "We did not offer the All Party Parliamentary Aviation Group money. We offered to help them with their secretarial work, not set their agenda. Our role is to get attention for issues. Yes we generated headlines. That's what PR people do. They place stories."