Labour attacks Government over delayed transparency releases
1 min read
Labour has accused the Government of “breaching public trust” by failing to release official statistics designed to improve transparency and accountability.
According to the Sunday Times, 92 out of 202 transparency publications – covering big spending items, gifts received, meetings and other issues – were either late or not published altogether.
David Cameron once boasted that his would be the “most transparent” administration ever, and in 2015 the UK government was judged by the World Wide Web Foundation as the most open in the world.
But Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett said today’s figures undermined those claims.
“The Tories promised us ‘the most transparent government ever’, but Theresa May has broken that promise,” he told the newspaper.
“The Prime Minister has failed to ensure proper scrutiny of government business. This risks breaching public trust.
“The Government is doing all it can to hide their actions from the public.
“The question which people will naturally ask themselves is ‘What has Mrs May got to hide?’ ”
A government spokesman said the UK was “at the forefront of open government”, adding: “We are releasing more information than ever before.”
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