UK Government promotes openness in Local Councils

This quote is from UK Government guidance issued to UK Local Councils:
“There are recent stories about people being ejected from council meetings for blogging, tweeting or filming. This potentially is at odds with the fundamentals of democracy and I want to encourage all councils to take a welcoming approach to those who want to bring local news stories to a wider audience. The public should rightly expect that elected representatives who have put themselves up for public office be prepared for their decisions to be as transparent as possible and welcome a direct line of communication to their electorate. I do hope that you and your colleagues will do your utmost to maximise the transparency and openness of your council.”

Oh, that they had written that to the St. Helena Government!

The quote comes from an interesting story about a journalist being arrested in Wales for filming local council proceedings.  Read the entire report here: http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/david-allen-green/2011/06/public-council-police-thompson