There are still lots of conspiracy theories and misinformation being bandied about regarding the extraordinary Polonium-210 radioactive poisoning murder of Alexander Litvinenko - just keep an eye on the moving east Revision History of the relevant Wikipedia page, and you will see for yourself.
The UK Government has done little to clarify the matter properly, and it has become part of the New Cold War with Russia.
Meanwhile, our little attempt to get a bit of information confirmed officially, which every other Government in the world, and many news agencies etc. already know, but which is being denied to the British public and media, is progressing very slowly.
The Information Commissioner's Office have now started to investigate the refusal of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office to disclose the just the names and job titles of the four Russian Federation diplomats and the four United Kingdom diplomats who were expelled from London and, tit-for-tat, from Moscow last summer, following the failure of the UK authorities to extradite their prime murder suspect Andrei Lugovoi from Russia.
If any of these diplomats were actually intelligence agents working under diplomatic cover, that is not something which one would expect to be made public by their respective Governments. However, since there is no chance of any of them ever being posted to similar roles overseas, simply naming them cannot put their lives in any more danger than normal.
Just being a normal British, or indeed, Russian, diplomat in some parts of the world, can either enhance your personal safety, or it can make you into a target, regardless of whether you are an intelligence agent as well.
- The original FOIA request was made in July 2007,
- the FCO refused it and internally reviewed it and still refused it in August 2007,
- the complaint to the ICO went in during August 2007.
- the Information Commissioner's Office allocated a Case Number in October 2007,
- and now the ICO have started to look at it in May 2008.
All these delays in the Freedom of Information system favour the secretive Central Government rather than the legal rights of members of the public.
Text of paper letter from the ICO:
ICO Information Commissioner's OfficePromoting public access to official information
and protecting your personal information[name]
[address]21st May 2008
Case Reference Number FS5017nnnn
Dear [xxx]
I am writing regarding your complaint against the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) under section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I can confirm your complaint has been allocated and now passed to me to deal with.
I have reviewed all of the documents you submitted and I have contacted the FCO with details of your complaint. I will contact you again when any progress has been made. In the meantime please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or further comments you wish to make.
Yours sincerely
[signature]Paul Warbrick
Senior Complaints Officer.
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
t: 0845 630 6060 f: 01625 524510 e: mail@ico.gov.uk w: ico.gov.uk
