International Law

Weekend newspaper briefing spin that the controversial Data Orders Clause 152 of Coroners and Justice Bill is to be abandoned

Jack Straw, the Secretary of State for (In)Justice, appears to Governing Through Weekend Newspaper Briefings, again, with the news that the controversial Clause 152 of the Coroners and Justice Bill, which could have effectively destroyed the Data Protection Act, is to be dropped from the Bill.

The Daily Telegraph / Sunday Telegraph appears to be the Chosen Weekend Newspaper, for this round of media spin, backed up by The Observer.

Neither of these reports are given much prominence, and other newspapers and the broadcast media are ignoring this story.

Note that the Ministry of Justice official website makes no mention of this weekend "announcement", and, of, course, there has been no Ministerial Statement made in Parliament.

Spy Blog will not celebrate until it is confirmed that Clause 152 has actually been removed entirely, and that nothing similar is proposed in its place.

Government abandons data-sharing scheme

The Government has been forced into an embarrassing U-turn over plans to share vast amounts of private data about individuals.

By David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 11:13PM GMT 07 Mar 2009

Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, is to shelve proposals which critics said would have led to patients' confidential medical records being passed to third parties.

A spokesman for Mr Straw said the "strength of feeling" against the plans had persuaded him to rethink.

The proposals will be dropped entirely from the Coroners and Justice Bill, and a new attempt will be made to reach a consensus on introducing a scaled-back version at an unspecified stage in the future.

"He has looked at it and he now wants to withdraw the clauses. We have asked Cabinet colleagues to agree to this," said Mr Straw's spokesman.

"Jack recognised the strength of feeling and he recognised that the clause was drafted in a way that was too wide, and so needed to be looked at again.

"He understood that this issue had touched a nerve for a lot of people, and he understood why."

[...]

The Guardian / Observer has also tagged along a little later:

Straw bows to pressure over data sharing

* Gaby Hinsliff and Jamie Doward
* The Observer, Sunday 8 March 2009

Jack Straw last night scrapped controversial government proposals that could have allowed patients' medical and DNA records to be shared with police, foreign governments and other bodies.

In a victory for civil liberties campaigners, the justice secretary bowed to public pressure over the data-sharing provisions in the forthcoming coroners' bill, which would have allowed public bodies to exchange data without the knowledge or consent of individuals involved. Doctors and the Bar Council had joined privacy campaigners in warning of the potential risks to public trust.

The move will be seen as an olive branch to Labour MPs concerned about what they see as the erosion of civil liberties, and will raise eyebrows at Westminster where Straw is viewed as a potential future leadership contender.

Full post as published by Spy Blog on March 08, 2009 (boomark / email).