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Data Protection and Freedom of Information

I am grateful to the Chief Whip for that. The sanctions are not just for politicians. They are much more important for non-politicians—members of the public—who cannot defend themselves in places such as this. I am pleased that the commissioner was robust in supporting my hon. Friend the Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb) in ensuring that details of the people who came to Downing street to discuss official business were revealed. It is important that that should be in the public domain and not a secret. I am very pleased that the commissioner was robust about the fact that local electoral officers should be banned from selling copies of the electoral register to marketing companies. That is not why people give their electoral information and it should not be used as a surrogate for a commercial operation. I am also pleased that the commissioner was very robust this summer about the folly of the Government super-database. In his annual report, he said that that would be"““a step too far for the British way of life””." The figures are incredible. Given that more than 57 billion text messages are sent in this country every year, the concept of the database is almost impossible to imagine. The commissioner was clear that we should not walk into it blindfold and warned us robustly in July about that. He asked that Parliament scrutinise the Home Secretary's proposals clearly. I am glad that she is withdrawing, as I understand it, from her proposal to bring a Bill before us in the next Session and that she will consult further. The one critical thing that I want to raise, which I hope the commissioner's new salary will allow him to do, is the need for him to deal with the backlog of cases much more effectively. Colleagues should be seriously worried about the backlog. In his annual—