3 March (Part 1) - Legal lunacy
Although nobody commented, connoisseurs of FOIs may have wondered why I
submitted such an obscure question as the one about Minutes and Agendas
disappearing from Bexley Council’s website. It was prompted by a letter from a
solicitor a month or so ago who demanded that I remove all BiB references to
a long forgotten event which had
its origins in 2014. The demands were backed up by a mock up of a High Court
writ to be actioned if I did not comply. The letter said that Bexley Council had
removed a particular Agenda and Minutes because it offended against GDPR. GDPR was not effective
until 25th May 2018 so it is difficult to believe that something published in
the final days of 2015 offended against the much later law - but that is perhaps irrelevant. It
was said that Bexley Council had caved in to legal pressure, and it has.
Whilst the offending Minutes were not exactly flattering towards the complainant I
almost immediately took the view that it was all a storm in a vindictive teacup. The late Mick
Barnbrook submitted 14 FOIs which were mostly refused but they did reveal that
there had never been a complaint about the subject of the Code of Conduct Minutes. This
was in direct contravention of Bexley Council’s own rules. I
managed to uncover a plausible reason for what may have motivated Bexley Council
into their then trademark vindictiveness and via the blog offered what little help a small time journalist could.
For this I was reported to the police - and charged - for making a false
reference to the Minutes. If only Sergeant Robbie Cooke had checked the Council’s website. He
will never make Detective will he?
Eight years later I found myself under pressure to remove those supportive blogs
the last of which was published in September 2016.
I have taken the view that supporting someone against a ‘crime’ which Bexley Council
has wiped from history is a complete waste of time and removed all references
to the ancient incident thus complying with the legal threat, albeit not because of GDPR.
The Free Speech Union is aware.