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FOI Act.
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Post FOI Act. 
The following is a copy of a letter received from Tanya Collinridge at the FCO in regard to an FOI Act request I made about the temporary wear of the PJM last year.

FOI 0049 08

Thank you for your email of 15 January asking:

"where the recommendation that the PJM can be worn temporarily in Malaysia issued by Her Majesty the Queen on the advice of the HD Committee is kept, and can I obtain a copy of this written recommendation."

I can confirm that the report by the HD Committee and submission sent from the Foreign Secretary to The Queen recommending temporary wear of the PJM during the 50th anniversary celebrations (annotated with The Queen's approval) is kept in the Honours Secretariat at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. I am, however, withholding release of this document because it is exempt under Section 37(1)(b) (conferring of any honour or dignity) and Section 35(1)(a) (formulation or development of government policy) of the Freedom Of Information (FOI) Act. We consider that the exemption in section 37(1)(b) relates not only to decisions on individuals' eligibility for honours or medals, but also covers formulation of policy in relation to medals and honours. In addition, section 35(1)(a) covers the development of government policy on any subject.

As you may know, where a qualified exemption applies, we must carry out a public interest balancing exercise to determine whether, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure. We acknowledge that there is a public interest in the transparent operation of the Government's functions relating to Honours, decorations and medals. We believe that the public interest has been satisfied by the full statement made on the PJM by the Cabinet Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and MOD last year. I attach a copy for your information.
The HD Committee needs to receive free and frank advice, and to conduct thorough and candid discussions about medals policy. Their candour in so doing will be affected by their assessment of whether the contents of their discussions will be disclosed in the near future. For these reasons, the public interest in withholding this information outweighs the public interest in release.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint, or request a review of our decision you should write to Jackie Barson, Deputy Director of Protocol, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Old Admiralty Building, London SW1A 2PA within 40 working days of the receipt of this reply.

If you are not content with the outcome of that internal review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaint procedure provided by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely,

Tanya Collingridge

Tanya Collingridge
Honours Secretary

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Typical fudge from the FCO Andy.

(annotated with The Queen's approval) is the same as Ms Pengelli's letter to me some time back 'that the Queen signed in the normal manner'

These people are a law unto themselves, I wish I could pursue this through a court of law because I personally feel that the FCO/HDC are not telling the whole truth, but as usual they are hiding behind a veil of secrecy and cannot be brought to book, or can they?


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HD Committee: Amateurs in a Professional World
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Post FOI Act 
YEAH! ANNOTATED WITH THE QUEEN'S APPROVAL!

Annotated by whom? Her Majesty? The Queen's Private Secretary? Tanya Coldridge? The Tea Lady?

These people think that we read their letters, but do not analyse what is written. they believe they are being clever with words; They should remember that "YOU CAN FOOL SOME PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME - YOU CANNOT FOOL ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME"!

GET A GRIP! One of these days when there will be an enquiry......................................................!

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Post FOI Act. 
I fully understand the frustration and anger at yet another refusal to perform open and transparent government and advise British citizens correctly of the decision made not to allow them to wear the PJM and then the decision to allow a 'certain few' to wear it temporarily in Malaysia. I was always under the impression that Malaysia is a different country which is ruled by its own King and has it own rules and that British citizens should obey the rules of the other country when it came to the wearing of medals. Meg Munn in a recent speech to the Malaysians said how proud they all were to accept the PJM whilst deliberately concealing the fact that she and others in the government are determined not to allow the wearing of it. What a way to promote foreign affairs and friendship overseas.

One day we will be told exactly what happened and who was responsible for the deliberate Constitutional breach of our democratic rights and let us see if they can cover their tracks then.

In the meantime, the bbc news of to-day under 'Iraq minutes should be released' reports that the Information Commissioner has told the government after a FOI request to the Cabinet Office was refused, to release the minutes of two cabinet meetings in the days before the Iraq war. The person making the request said that not releasing the information created 'a public impression that something not entirely truthful has been uttered'. Now where have we heard that before.

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Post Iraq War minutes. 
Here is the bbc news article about the Iraq war minutes and a FOI Act request.




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Post FOI Act 
Twisted Evil

GOTCHA?

If this request is too important to be hidden behind the FOI, then perhaps another try for the PJM decision might be worth it terms of hiding what is, in National Security terms, a trivial matter and can only have been implemented to cover the backs of the conspiritors in the FCO, MOD DS Sec and the Cabinet Office. The interests of these people should never be regarded as being of National importance (except to get rid of them), mind you, by the time they have finished 'redacting'/blacking out the embarrassing bits in the Cabinet Papers, it is likely there will be nothing left of importance, indeed, it will perhaps look like the famous R.T.Coney edited letter to the anonymous Lt.Col!

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FOIA + 'National Security' = the last refuge of the scoundrel.


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Paroi...Rasah...Batu Signals Troop.
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