There is not a crime, there is not a dodge, there is not a trick, there is not a swindle which does not live by secrecy. Get these things out in the open, describe them, attack them, ridicule them in the press, and sooner or later public opinion will sweep them away. A quote from Joseph Pulitzer begins Heather Brooke’s guide to UK Freedom of Information, and without giving it too cheesy a plug, it’s a great stocking-filler for budding citizen journalists. Personally, I’m looking forward to spending Christmas morning with the kids making FOI requests.

Brooke is American, and therefore doesn’t know when to stop. Where you and I might shrug, give up and move grudgingly on, she has carved out a role in promoting freedom of information here in Britain, encouraging people use it to redress the balance of power.

Brooke’s guide contains many asides critical of the structure of the British executive, and its concentration of power. As an old-fashioned Machiavellian, on the side of republican virtue, I couldn’t agree more.

She gives the example of Network Rail, a private company charged with maintaining and improving Britain’s railway infrastructure. Its only shareholder is Her Majesty’s Government, a body financed by taxpayers who underwrite the companies liabilities. As a ‘private’ company it falls outside the FOI legislation. The Lord Chancellor has the power to designate private companies providing public services as ‘public’ for the purposes of the Act, but don’t hold your breath.

However, in this age of information overload, I’m not sure if Pulitzer’s quote still holds true. Suffice to say, there’s plenty more sweeping to do.