When New Labour’s hero, Tony Blair, said he regretted bringing in the Freedom of Information Act 2000, he didn’t mean because it didn’t go far enough; he meant it had given people access to information that he wished he hadn’t granted them. Tony Blair may have left office, but Welsh Labour are carrying on where he left off as far as hoping to keep information away from the public is concerned.

Their proposal to reject legislation requiring public bodies to disclose to the public how much time public sector employees are spending on union activities is a blatant attempt to hide information Labour feels the public will dislike. Labour must know that the information would cause outrage among the taxpayers of Wales, otherwise there would be no reason to withhold it. Were people to ask how much money and time is being spent on any other activity undertaken by public sector employees, denying the public the answers would not be tolerated. If this legislation proceeds, I think I would be justified in filing and FOI request every week, asking how much time has been spent on union activity, and to let the public know myself.

I also share the public’s view that strike ballots should be subject to at least a minimum level of approval by union members. I am concerned for workers’ rights and it’s important to remember that unions have done a huge amount to improve workers’ conditions and wages. But it seems reasonable that there should be a minimum threshold for support by members before industrial action can take place. To those who claim that the new rules would obstruct unions from representing their members, I would say this: if you can’t get enough support from your members for strike action, you clearly are not representing their views. If the strike ballot fails to reach that level of support, it will be no-one’s fault but the unions’. The public seem to support a minimum threshold for strike action, and Labour’s objection to it can only be because they value their union donors more than they value transparency and what the public want. Labour needs to remember that the public sector is there to serve the taxpayer, not the other way around. Thank you.