Peter,
The article is a good reminder of why records matter. They hold the powerful to account. I have written previously on the desire to hollow out archives, lose records, and power’s desire to resist accountability by creating the “official record”.
Whenever we see these articles or the arguments to withhold information, in particular historical information, I always think of power seeking to avoid accountability. I fear that Archives and Records management will be entering a dark age. More records and archives will be reduced to banality of the “official record”. By that I mean, nothing that a powerful person wants removed will be retained. They will have the power to sanitise history.
It will not occur through a brutal display of power or something as crude as the Nordlinger affair. It will occur through the quiet word, the indirect statement, the gentle request for reduced funding or changed archival responsibilities.
All societies, in particular imperial ones, rely on arcana imperii. The archives, before the powerful became aware of the potential for future disclosure, contained more of it. In the future, it will contain very little, if any, as the arcana imperii will never be given to the Archives or it will be destroyed. For any doubt, consider http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33431580 where information that would vet someone for honours is destroyed or not made accessible. However, that is something that is part of politics. What I fear is something more insidious as it is less likely to be noticed.
Consider the case of John Grieve. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35220929 He was confronted with something from the past that was found through the National Archives at Kew. Sanchia Berg has done a good job with the archives and making a story come alive. My concern, though, is the future effect on archives.
Mr. Grieve was adept in responding to being held to account. He provided the stock answer that “Things were different then and we are now better.” He also stressed it was just one incident. Finally, he said he welcomed accountability as part of the job.
What struck me, though, was the reference to the fact that the file had been retained at all. The article suggests it was retained because Mr. Grieve wrote to his superiors about the case. However, it is not clear why the documents were retained. From this statement, I could see a deep concern within the Met* but across government that such “gotcha” **moments are avoided. I can see the possibility that people will want or expect greater vetting of their files before they leave so that they can control their future accountability.
The powerful will not suggest this directly or clearly. They will not say “I do not want this getting out.” It will be something about having more discretion for decision making” Or it will be something like “We need to investigate greater operational control to assess operational impacts of future disclosure.”
As to records being used as leverage, which suggest a reason why they are collected and kept, consider the case of Operational Othona where a lorry load of documents were shredded over 2 days under mysterious circumstances.
Roy Clark, who lead anti-corruption at the time of Othona, said: ‘I’d be shocked if it doesn’t exist. It was gold-dust stuff.’
The officer, who retired in 2001, added that *it was important the information was used to keep up the pressure on corrupt officers*. He said: ‘How you can go to those lengths and spend all that money and it is not there, I am just amazed.’ [Emphasis added] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2587531/Truth-corruption-files-police-shredded-Secret-memo-officers-trafficked-drugs-faked-evidence-took-bribes.html
The other officer in charge of Operation Othona? John Grieve.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=cPDE_OPExkwC&pg=PT24&lpg=PT24&dq=grieve+othona&source=bl&ots=h8JQOVZry5&sig=GqnqVuzfArtaxKxMCi6SPFNefTo&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=grieve%20othona&f=false
*I do not know if Mr. Grieve would have this reaction. However, such a reaction would follow the example of powerful people across the planet such as Wikipedia edits, archives being destroyed, records being removed. http://www.nysun.com/national/how-an-ex-aide-to-president-clinton-stashed/45551/
** I do not think the article was written or approached as “gotcha” journalism. However, to powerful people held to account when they do not expect it, such an approach can appear to be an example of “gotcha”.
From: The Information and Records Management Society mailing list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of PeterK
Sent: 30 December 2015 20:50
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Whitehall’s culture of secrecy is dismantling freedom of information
For decades, hundreds of official documents, including cabinet papers, have been released on 30 December, disclosing decisions that would have been considered unacceptable in a democracy had they been known about at the time. They would be made available at what is now called the National Archives at Kew in south-west London, under the “30-year rule”. This year will be different. Instead of the usual treasure trove of long-held documents, next week the archives will release only a limited number. Kew says it is changing the way historic records are released by “moving to a more responsive and agile programme of releases”.
http://bit.ly/1Tqdcsf
http://bit.ly/1Tqdcsf+
--
Peterk
Dallas, Tx
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