O'Donnell vs Campbell
Alastair Campbell says he was when publishing his diary extracts about life in Downing Street.
But this punctiliousness about vetting doesn't seem to have involved complying with the wishes of the Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell. He asked Campbell not to proceed with the book at all - that's according to the evidence O'Donnell gave to the Information Tribunal. This evidence has been most usefully by Sam Coates of the Times, he says for the benefit of 'FOI watchers and civil service nerds' (thanks, Sam).
This was part of the current hearing into the disclosure of cabinet minutes relating to the Iraq war.
O'Donnell's reluctance to sanction Campbell's book is very interesting. This issue - of the extent to which ministers, officials and special advisers are or are not authorised to write memoirs - has important implications for the handling of freedom of information requests, and I am sure we will be hearing more of it in this context.
O'Donnell told the Tribunal yesterday that a number of Cabinet ministers had asked him about the case and how it might change how the Cabinet operates. I wonder if any of them were also thinking about its potential impact on the writing of their memoirs.
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