Chief constable attacks Maclean Bill

Brunstom attacks MPs on privacy - BBC

"North Wales Police chief constable Richard Brunstrom has criticised MPs for trying to keep their expenses secret. He described a bill to exempt MPs from the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act as an "almost bizarre" proposal."

"Writing on his blog, Mr Brunstrom described himself as a "passionate supporter of openness and transparency in public life". He said he was "delighted" when the Freedom of Information Act was adopted in 2000, although he called it a "watered-down" version of similar laws in countries like the USA, Canada and New Zealand. "We in the police accept it as the norm, and our democracy is much the better for it," he wrote."

"A private member's bill brought by Conservative MP David Maclean, which proposed exempting MPs from the FOI Act, was an "almost bizarre proposal", according to Mr Brunstrom. He said: "The stated rationale is to protect the confidentiality of MPs' correspondence - a perfectly fair point, were it not for the fact that the existing legislation does this perfectly adequately already."

Chief Constable's Blog.