Freedom of Information Act 2000

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make provision for the disclosure of information held by public authorities or by persons providing services for them and to amend the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Public Records Act 1958; and for connected purposes.
Statute book chapter	2000 c. 36
Territorial extent	England and Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland
Dates
Royal Assent	30 November 2000
Commencement	30 November 2000 (part)[1] 30 January 2001 (part)[1] 14 May 2001 (part)[2] 30 November 2002 (part)[3] 28 February 2003 (part)[3] 30 June 2003 (part)[3] 30 October 2003 (part)[4] 29 February 2004 (part)[4] 30 June 2004 (part)[4] 1 January 2005 (full)[5][6]
Other legislation
Related legislation	Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Official text of the statute as amended and in force today within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database

File:Ukpga 20000036 en.pdf

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (c.36) is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level. The Act implements a manifesto commitment of the Labour Party in the 1997 general election, developed by Dr David Clark as a 1997 White Paper. The final version of the Act is believed to have been diluted from that proposed while Labour was in opposition. The full provisions of the act came into force on 1 January 2005.

The Act is the responsibility of the Lord Chancellor's Department (now renamed the Ministry of Justice). The Act led to the renaming of the Data Protection Commissioner (set up to administer the Data Protection Act), who is now known as the Information Commissioner. The Office of the Information Commissioner oversees the operation of the Act.

A second freedom of information law is in existence in the UK, the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 13). It was passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2002, to cover public bodies over which the Holyrood parliament, rather than Westminster, has jurisdiction. For these institutions, it fulfils the same purpose as the 2000 Act.

Around 120,000 requests are made each year^[7]. Private citizens made 60% of them, with businesses and journalists accounting for 20% and 10% respectively^[7]. Journalists' requests took up more of officials' time than businesses' and individuals' requests^{[citation needed]}. The Act cost £35.5 million in 2005. ^[8]

Background[link]

The act implements what was a manifesto commitment of the Labour Party in the 1997 general election. Before its introduction, there had been no right of access to government by the general public, merely a limited voluntary framework for sharing information.

The white paper[link]

The act was preceded by a 1998 white paper, entitled "Your Right to Know" by Dr David Clark. The white paper was met with widespread enthusiasm ^[9] and was described at the time as being "almost too good to be true."^[10] by one advocate of freedom of information legislation. The final act was substantially more limited in scope than the initial white paper.

Parliamentary debate[link]

Following the white paper, there is a draft bill was published in May 1999, the act was extensively debated in the House of Commons and the House of Lords and received royal assent in November 2000

Act[link]

Applicability[link]

The Freedom of Information Act creates a statutory right for access to information in relation to bodies that exercise functions of a public nature, three different kinds of bodies are covered under the act. Public Authorities, publicly owned companies and designated bodies performing public functions.

Public authorities[link]

In principle, the freedom of information act applies to all "public authorities" within the United Kingdom, a full list of "public authorities" for the purposes of the act is included in Schedule 1. Government departments, the Houses of Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly, the armed forces, local government bodies, National Health Service bodies, schools, colleges and universities, police authorities and Chief Officers of Police are included within this list, which ranges from the Farm Animal Welfare Council to the Youth Council for Northern Ireland.

A few government departments are expressly excluded from the scope of the act, principally Intelligence services.

As government departments are closed and created, the act must be continually updated. s4 of the Act empowers the Secretary of State for constitutional affairs to add a body or officeholder to Schedule 1 as a public authority if they are created statute or prerogative; and its members are appointed by the government.^[11]

Hybrid public authorities[link]

It is important to note that for some public authorities listed under Schedule 1 the act has limited effect. For example, the BBC is subject to the act only for information which is not held for the purposes of journalism, art or literature, to prevent its journalistic activities from possible compromise. The scope of this provision was considered in the recent High Court decision of BBC v Sugar an internal BBC document examining the BBC coverage of the Middle East for potential bias. The appellants in that case argued that the document had been produced for both operational and journalistic reasons, and so should not be covered by the partial exemption provided in the act. the High Court rejected this argument, Mr Justice Irwin considered that the meaning of journalism within the act meant that any information held for such purposes was covered by the exemption:

My conclusion is that the words in the Schedule mean the BBC has no obligation to disclose information which they hold to any significant extent for the purposes of journalism, art or literature, whether or not the information is also held for other purposes. The words do not mean that the information is disclosable if it is held for purposes distinct from journalism, art or literature, whilst it is also held to any significant extent for those listed purposes. If the information is held for mixed purposes, including to any significant extent the purposes listed in the Schedule or one of them, then the information is not disclosable.

Publicly owned companies[link]

Companies that fall within the definition of a publicly owned company under s6 of the Act automatically fall within its grasp. S6 provides that a company is publicly owned if:

(a) it is wholly owned by the Crown, or

(b) it is wholly owned by any public authority listed in Schedule 1 other than

(i) a government department, or

(ii) any authority which is listed only in relation to particular information.

Designated bodies[link]

Under s5 of the act the Secretary of State may designate further bodies as public authorities under the act, provided that those bodies are exercising a function of a public nature or contracting to provide a service whose provision is a function of a public authority. As of June 2010 no such designations had yet been made, but the Ministry of Justice has issued a consultation paper proposing to use s.5 to extend the list of public authorities to include: academy schools, the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Financial Ombudsman Service, and UCAS

Right of Access[link]

The act creates a general right of access, on request, to information held by public authorities. On receipt of a freedom of information claim a public authority has two corresponding duties. First, a duty to inform a member of the public whether or not it holds the information requested (s1(1)(a)), and second if it does hold that information, to communicate it to the person making that request (s1(1)(b)). As the collary to this, the Act thus grants the equivalent rights to a confirmation or denial and communication of relevant information to an individual making a request under the act. The basic duty is supplemented by an additional duty to aid individuals in making requests and ensuring that they frame their FOI requests appropriately. (s.16(1))

However, there are numerous exemptions. Some of these are absolute bars to disclosure; some are qualified, which means the public authority has to decide whether the public interest in disclosing the relevant information outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exemption. An applicant for information who considers that a request has been wrongly rejected may apply to the Information Commissioner, who has the power to order disclosure. However, such orders can be appealed to a specialist tribunal (the Information Tribunal) and in some circumstances the Government has the power to override orders of the Information Commissioner.

Any person can request information under the act; this includes legal entities such as companies. There is no special format for a request. Applicants do not need to mention the act when making a request. Applicants do not have to give a reason for their request.

Exemptions[link]

Although the Act covers a wide range of government information, the act contains a variety of provisions that provide for the exemption from disclosure of certain types of information. The act contains two forms of exemption. "Absolute" exemptions that are not subject to any public interest assessment, they act as absolute bars to the disclosure of information and "qualified" exemptions where a public interest test must be made, balancing the public interest in maintaining the exemption against the public interest in disclosing the information. The original government white paper on the freedom of information act proposed only seven such exemptions^{[citation needed]}, but the final bill included 24.

Absolute exemptions[link]

Exemptions designated "absolute exemptions" have no public interest test attached, the act contains eight such exemptions:

• Information that is accessible by other means (s.21)
• Information relating to or dealing with security matters (s.23)
• Information contained in court records (s.32)
• Where disclosure of the information would infringe parliamentary privilege (s.34)
• Information held by the House of Commons or the House of Lords, where disclosure would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs (s.36). (Information that is not held by the Commons or Lords falling under s.36 is subject to the public interest test)

• Information which (a) the applicant could obtain under the Data Protection Act 1998; or (b) where release would breach the data protection principles. (s.40)
• Information provided in confidence (s.41)
• When disclosing the information is prohibited by an enactment; incompatible with an EU obligation; or would commit a contempt of court (s.44)

Qualified exemptions[link]

If information falls within a qualified exemption, it must be subject to a public interest test. Thus, a decision on the application of a qualified exemption operates in two stages. First, a public authority must determine whether or not information is covered by an exemption and then, even if it is covered, the authority must disclose the information unless the application of a public interest test indicated that the public interest favours non-disclosure.

Qualified exemptions can be sub-divided into two further categories: class-based exemptions covering information in particular classes, and harm-based exemptions covering situation where disclosure of information would be liable to cause harm.

Class-based exemptions[link]

• Information intended for future publication (s.22)
• Information which does not fall within s. 23(1) is exempt if required for the purpose of safeguarding national security (s.24)
• Information held for purposes of investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities (s.30)
• Information relating to the formation of government policy, ministerial communications, advice from government legal officers, and the operation of any ministerial private office (s.35)
• Information that relates to communications with members of the Royal family, and conferring honours (s.37)
• Prevents overlap between FoI Act and regulations requiring disclosure of environmental information (s.39)
• Information covered by professional legal privilege (s.42)
• Trade secrets (s.43(1))

Harm-based exemptions[link]

Under these exemptions the exemption applies (subject to the public interest test) if complying with the duty under s.1 would or would be likely to:

• Prejudice defence or the capability, effectiveness or security of any relevant forces (s.26)
• Prejudice international relations (s.27)
• Prejudice relations between any administration in the United Kingdom and any other such administration (s.28)
• Prejudice the economic interests of the UK (s.29)
• Prejudice law enforcement (e.g., prevention of crime or administration of justice, etc.) (s.31)
• Prejudice the auditing functions of any public authorities (s.33)
• In the reasonable opinion of a qualified person: prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs; prejudice collective responsibility; or inhibit the free and frank provision of advice or exchange of views (s.36)
• Endanger physical or mental health, or endanger the safety of the individual (s.38)
• Prejudice commercial interests (s.43(2))

Refusing requests[link]

Vexatious requests[link]

A public authority is not obliged to comply with a request for information if the request is vexatious.(s14(1)) A request is considered vexatious if it is ‘obsessive or manifestly unreasonable,’ harasses the authority or causes distress to its staff, imposes a significant burden, or if the request lacks any serious value.^[12]

Implementing the act[link]

The Act affects over 100,000 public bodies including government departments, schools and councils.

The Act came into force in phases, with the final "general right of access" to public information under the Act coming into force on 1 January 2005.^[5][6]

As well as the "general right of access", the Act places a duty on public authorities to adopt and maintain pro-active "publication schemes" for the routine release of important information (such as annual reports and accounts). These publication schemes must be approved by the Information Commissioner.

In general, public authorities have 20 working days to respond to an information request, though this deadline can be extended in certain cases and/or with the agreement of the requester. Under the Act, public authorities are encouraged to enter into a dialogue with the requester to better determine the information they want, and the format they want it in - in itself, a change in the way UK authorities interact with the public.

Requests can be refused if they cost more than £600, including time spent searching for files.^[8]

The UK Government established the Access to Information Central Clearing House in order to ensure consistency across Central Government in the way requests are handled.

Unusual features[link]

Three features of the UK Freedom of Information Act deserve special mention, as they differ from the position in many other countries.

1. Requests by individuals for access to their own personal information are dealt with outside the act for most practical purposes. They are dealt with under the Data Protection Act 1998 once it has been determined that the exemption for first party personal data is engaged, although some key provisions remain applicable e.g. the right of complaint to the Information Commissioner.
2. Requests for information about matters concerning the environment are dealt with by the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Those regulations, while similar to the FOIA, do differ in a number of ways.
3. There is no procedure whereby third parties can challenge a decision by a public authority to disclose information: for instance, if a commercial organisation provides information to a public authority, and the authority discloses that information in response to an FOI Act request, the commercial organisation has no right of appeal against that decision. By contrast, "reverse FOI" applications of this type are common in the U.S.

Reception[link]

At the time of the passing of the Act, advocates of freedom of information legislation were critical of the bill for its complexity, limited scope and the inclusion of a ministerial veto. Lord Mackay criticised the bill in the House of Lords as "toothless" for its inclusion of a provisions allowing ministers to veto applications.^[13]

By contrast, former prime minister Tony Blair responsible for passing the Act as "One of the biggest mistakes of his career" . He says that "For political leaders, it's like saying to someone who is hitting you over the head with a stick, 'Hey, try this instead', and handing them a mallet. The information is neither sought because the journalist is curious to know, nor given to bestow knowledge on 'the people'. It's used as a weapon."^[14] Labour Peer Lord Falconer has criticised the use of the act by journalists for ""fishing expeditions" into salacious stories, arguing that: "…FoI is not for press it is for the people. It needs to be properly used in order to promote good Government. Information needs to be handled responsibly, and I strongly believe that there is a duty of responsibility on behalf of the media as well."^[15]

In the article Freedom of Information: A sheep in wolf's clothing? Rodney Austin offers the following criticisms of the substance of the Act:

• The range of exemptions is wider than for any other freedom of information acts existing in a democratic state.
• The obligations to establish publication schemes were diluted meaning that there is no duty to publish information of any specified type
• There is a ministerial veto which undermines the Act. This has been used four times: the first time to stop publication of minutes of cabinet meetings relating to the invasion of Iraq^[16], the second and third time by successive governments to stop publication of cabinet meetings relating to discussions regarding devolution^[17][18] and the fourth to stop publication of a risk register on NHS overhaul in England.^[19]

The legislation has also been criticised for "loopholes" that allow authorities to avoid disclosing information in certain situations. Companies owned by one public authority are generally subject to the Act but companies owned by two or more public authorities are not covered^[20][21]

Facts revealed by the act[link]

Facts that have been brought to light by this Act include:

• The Government agreed to a £1.5 million bailout of one of the most troubled schools in its flagship academies programme ten days before the 2005 general election^[22]

• Ministers and MPs claimed thousands of pounds on taxis as part of £5.9 million in expenses for travel^[22]
• Foreign diplomats – who have diplomatic immunity – were accused of rapes, sexual assaults, child abuse and murders while working in Britain^[22]
• Seventy-four police officers serving with the Metropolitan Police have criminal records^[22]

• A clandestine British torture programme existed in post-war Germany, “reminiscent of the concentration camps”^[22]
• The UK supported the Israeli nuclear weapons program, by selling Israel 20 tonnes of heavy water in 1958.^[23]
• The NHS has made available Implanon implants to girls from the age of 13 in an attempt to cut teenage pregnancies^[22]

Amendment bill[link]

The Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill was a private member's bill introduced to the British House of Commons in 2007 which failed to become law. Conservative MP David Maclean introduced the bill to ensure that MPs' correspondence was exempt from freedom of information laws. The then leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell, said there should not "be one law for MPs and a different law for everyone else" and that it looked like "Parliament has something to hide".^[24] However, this failed to pass the first reading in the House of Lords.

Further to this, Lord Falconer made comments suggesting that time spent deciding whether or not information fell under an exemption clause should be included in the £600 cost limit. Consultation was carried out, with the government saying the change would cut costs and discourage requests for trivial information,^[25] although critics said that it was to keep embarrassing information secret.^[8][26][27]

See also[link]

• Campaign for Freedom of Information
• Thirty year rule

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• The Law of Freedom of Information (MacDonald, Jones et al.: OUP 2003)
• Information Rights (Coppel at al.: Sweet and Maxwell 2004)
• Your Right To Know (Brooke, H.: Pluto Press 2006)

External links[link]

• Official text of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as amended and in force today within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database.
• Information Commissioner's Office
• Freedom of Information Act Blog (maintained by Steve Wood, Lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University)
• Freedom of Information Journal
• House of Commons Library Article (An analysis of the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act)
• Open Government: a Journal on Freedom of Information. Open access e-journal with peer-reviewed research and commentary on FOI worldwide
• WhatDoTheyKnow.com - a web-based system for making and publishing Freedom of Information requests, maintained by mySociety

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Sajid Javid MP
Member of Parliament for Bromsgrove
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Julie Kirkbride
Majority	11,308 (21.9%)
Personal details
Born	(1969-12-05) 5 December 1969 (age 42)[1] Rochdale, Lancashire, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Laura Javid
Children	4
Alma mater	University of Exeter
Occupation	Banker
Religion	None (ex-Muslim)[2]
Website	Conservative Party profile

Sajid Javid (born 5 December 1969) is an English Conservative Party politician. At the 2010 general election he was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament (MP) for the Bromsgrove constituency.

He is currently the Parliamentary Private Secretary to George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, appointed 14 October 2011.^[3]

Early life[link]

Javid was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, as one of five sons to a bus driver. Javid was educated at Downend School, a state comprehensive school in Bristol, Avon from 1981-1986, followed by Filton Technical College, also in Bristol, from 1986-1988, and then at the University of Exeter, Devon, from 1988-1991, where he studied economics and politics, and became a member of the Conservative Party.^[4][5]

Javid joined Chase Manhattan Bank in New York immediately out of university, working mostly in South America. Aged 25, he became the youngest Vice President in the history of the bank.^[6] He relocated to London in 1997, and later joined Deutsche Bank as a Director in 2000. In 2004 he became a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank and, one year later, Global Head of Emerging Markets Structuring.^[7] In 2007 he relocated to Singapore as head of Deutsche Bank's credit trading, equity convertibles, commodities and private equity businesses in Asia,^[8] and was appointed a board member of Deutsche Bank International Limited. He left Deutsche Bank in 2009 to pursue a career in politics.

Javid is a Trustee of the London Early Years Foundation, was a Governor of Normand Croft Community School, and has led an expedition to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of Help The Aged.^[9]

Political career[link]

On 28 May 2009, the MP for Bromsgrove, Julie Kirkbride, announced that she would be standing down as an MP at the next General Election in the light of the expenses scandal. Kirkbride had represented Bromsgrove since 1997. Her resignation was confirmed in December 2009, after an attempt to withdraw it.^[10] The Bromsgrove constituency is a safe Conservative seat and has been Conservative since its creation in 1983.

After a selection contest held by the Bromsgrove Conservative Association on 6 February 2010, Javid was announced as the Conservative candidate in the 2010 general election. He received over 70% of the votes cast by local members of the Association.

In the election held on 6 May 2010, Javid received 22,558 votes (43.7%) with a majority of 11,308.^[11] In terms of number of votes, this was an increase on the previous majority of 10,080 at the 2005 general election.^[12]

Along with Rehman Chishti, Javid is the first Muslim born MP to represent the Conservative Party.^[13] However, he declares that Christianity is the only religion practised in his house.

According to Jack Straw, those in the 2010 intake "are the best new MPs for over thirty years": he also identified Javid as one of six Conservative MPs "who have already made an impact in this first term".^[14] Javid was one of six new MPs focused on by the Financial Times.^[15] In December 2010, Tim Montgomerie, the editor of ConservativeHome (the UK's most influential conservative website), named Sajid as his newcomer of 2010.^[16]

Javid was a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee from June - November 2010. He had to relinquish this position when he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Hayes, the current Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.^[17] Javid was one of the first new MPs to be appointed to this position by the Prime Minister, David Cameron.

In August 2011, in an analysis of the 2010 parliamentary intake by Westminster consultancy firm Guide Public Affairs, "Guide To The Next Prime Minister",^[18] Javid ranked third, and was the top-scoring Conservative.^[19]

Javid has written op-ed pieces for The Wall Street Journal Europe,^[20][21] The Daily Telegraph^[22] and The Times.^[23][24]

On 14 October 2011, Javid was promoted to Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne.^[25]

In January 2012, The Times newspaper included Javid in its list of the "Top 100 Global People to Watch in 2012".^[26] The Times stated that, "His background in investment banking and experience working on currency devaluations, mean that Javid’s star could be the brightest of a potentially stellar 2010 Tory intake."

Private life[link]

Javid on faith: "My own family’s heritage is Muslim. Myself and my four brothers were brought up to believe in God, but I do not practise any religion. My wife is a practising Christian and the only religion practised in my house is Christianity. I think we should recognise that Christianity is the religion of our country.”^[27]

Javid on multiculturalism: “I welcome the Prime Minister’s speech on this complex and important topic. I am proud of my Pakistani and Muslim heritage but, as I have myself said repeatedly, people who settle here should respect the British way of life, culture and traditions, and be required to learn our language. For too long we have championed an ideology of multiculturalism which has created divides rather than broken them down.”^[28]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Sajid Javid MP Conservative Party profile
• Bromsgrove Conservatives
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Official channel at YouTube

The Right Honourable Stephen Timms MP
Shadow Minister of State for Employment
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 October 2010
Leader	Ed Miliband
Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury
In office 11 May 2010 – 8 October 2010
Leader	Harriet Harman Ed Miliband
Preceded by	Mark Hoban
Succeeded by	Chris Leslie
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
In office 5 October 2008 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Jane Kennedy
Succeeded by	Mark Hoban
In office 12 September 2004 – 6 May 2005
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Ruth Kelly
Succeeded by	John Healey
In office 29 July 1999 – 8 June 2001
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Barbara Roche
Succeeded by	Paul Boateng
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In office 5 May 2006 – 28 June 2007
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Des Browne
Succeeded by	Andy Burnham
Member of Parliament for East Ham
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 1997
Preceded by	Constituency Created
Majority	27,826 (55.2%)
Member of Parliament for Newham North East
In office 9 June 1994 – 1 May 1997
Preceded by	Ron Leighton
Succeeded by	Constituency Abolished
Personal details
Born	(1955-07-29) 29 July 1955 (age 56) Oldham, Lancashire, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Hui-Leng Lim (1986–present)
Alma mater	Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Religion	Christianity
Website	Official website

Stephen Creswell Timms (born 29 July 1955) is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for East Ham since 1994. He is a former Cabinet Minister having served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2006 to 2007. He is also the Vice-Chair of the Labour Party, and vice chairman for faith groups.^[1][2]

Timms was the Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1999-2001, 2004-2005, and 2008-2010. Since 11 May 2010, he has been the Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury. Timms has the largest majority of any sitting MP (27,826), with 70.4% of the local vote.^[2][3]

On 14 May 2010 he survived a murder attempt by a radical Islamist constituent, Roshonara Choudhry.

Early life[link]

Timms was born in Oldham, Lancashire, to Ronald James Timms, an engineer, and Margaret Joyce Timms, a teacher.^[4][5] He was educated at Farnborough Grammar School in Farnborough, Hampshire, and read Mathematics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge where he gained an MA in Mathematics in 1977 and an MPhil in Operational Research in 1978.^[6]

Before entering politics, Timms worked in the telecommunications industry for 15 years, first for Logica from 1978–86 and then for Ovum from 1986–94, where he was the manager responsible for producing reports on the future of telecommunications. Timms was elected as a councillor for the Little Ilford Ward on Newham London Borough Council in a by-election in 1984, and served as Leader of the Council from 1990 to 1994.^[6]

Member of Parliament[link]

In June 1994 he was elected to Parliament as MP for Newham North East. For the next election, his constituency was merged with part of Newham South, and in May 1997 he was elected MP for the resulting new constituency of East Ham.^[6][7]

In government[link]

He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Andrew Smith from May 1997 to March 1998, and to Mo Mowlam from March to July 1998.

In 1998 Timms was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Social Security, rising to Minister of State in that department the following year. He served as Minister of State for E-Commerce and Competitiveness and Minister of State for Energy, E-Commerce and Postal Services at the Department of Trade and Industry; Minister of State for School Standards at the Department for Education and Skills; Minister of State for Pensions at the Department for Work and Pensions; and served as Financial Secretary to the Treasury, from 1999 to 2001, September 2004 to May 2005 and October 2008 to May 2010.^[6]

Chief Secretary to the Treasury; Minister of State for Competitiveness[link]

In May 2006 he was promoted to the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, effectively the Chancellor's second-in-command with responsibility for department budget issues, a post in which he remained until 28 June 2007, when he was dropped from the cabinet by new Prime Minister Gordon Brown.^[6] It was later announced that he had been appointed Minister of State for Competitiveness at the newly created Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform[link]

Following the government reshuffle on 24 January 2008 as a result of the resignation of Peter Hain, Timms moved to the Department for Work and Pensions to become Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform.^[8]

Financial Secretary to the Treasury[link]

Tony McNulty replaced him there on 3 October 2008, and Timms returned to his former role as Financial Secretary to the Treasury.^[6]

In August 2009, he was given additional responsibility for Digital Britain.^[9] In September 2009, he announced plans for a tax of £6 per year to be levied on each phone account in the UK. At the time, this was broadly characterised as a stealth tax in the UK media. In April 2010, Timms' department made an embarrassing slip when a letter purporting to be from him mistakenly identified IP address as "intellectual property address".^[10] According to the accountants' magazine Accountancy Age, he was highly regarded by finance professionals despite such gaffes.^[11]

Murder attempt[link]

On 14 May 2010, Timms was approached by 21-year-old Roshonara Choudhry, during his constituency surgery at the Beckton Globe Library in Kingsford Way, Beckton, East London.^[12][13] She stabbed him twice in his abdomen with a 6-inch (150 mm) kitchen knife, before being disarmed.^[14][15][16] She stated that she had been influenced by watching sermons of Anwar al-Awlaki, a leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and that her attack was to punish Timms for voting for the Iraq War, and seek revenge for the Iraqi people.^[17][18]

Timms suffered "potentially life-threatening" wounds–lacerations to his liver and a perforation to his stomach–and a senior police officer said he "was extremely fortunate not to have been killed".^[19] He underwent emergency surgery at the Royal London Hospital, from which he was discharged on 19 May.^[15][20]

On 2 November, Choudhry was found guilty of Timms' attempted murder. She was subsequently given a life sentence, with a recommendation that she serve a minimum jail term of 15 years.^[19] After the court case, Timms said he was not bitter, but that forgiveness was not an issue until his attacker showed remorse. He was seeking the banning of incendiary material on popular Internet sites "to protect other vulnerable young people from going down the same road."^[21] YouTube removed some videos of al-Awlaki within hours of the sentence.^[17][21]

Personal life[link]

Timms describes himself as a "Christian Socialist". He has lived in the East London Borough of Newham since 1979. He married Hui-Leng Lim in the borough in 1986.^[21]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Stephen Timms MP official constituency website
• Newham Labour Party
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
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Nigel Farage MEP
Leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 November 2010
Preceded by	Jeffrey Titford
In office 27 September 2006 – 27 November 2009
Preceded by	Roger Knapman
Succeeded by	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
Member of the European Parliament for South East England
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 July 1999
Personal details
Born	(1964-04-03) 3 April 1964 (age 48) Kent, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Political party	UK Independence Party
Spouse(s)	Gráinne Hayes (1988-1997, divorced) Kirsten Mehr (1999-present)
Children	4
Alma mater	Dulwich College
Religion	Church of England
Website	Nigel Farage MEP

Nigel Paul Farage ( /ˈfærɑːʒ/, FARR-ahzh;^[1] born 3 April 1964, Farnborough, Kent), is a British politician and is the Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP),^[2] a position he also held from September 2006 to November 2009. He is a Member of the European Parliament for South East England and co-chairs the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group.

Farage is a founding member of the UKIP, having left the Conservative Party in 1992 after they signed the Maastricht Treaty. Having unsuccessfully campaigned in European and Westminster parliamentary elections for UKIP since 1994, he gained a seat as an MEP for South East England in the 1999 European Parliament Election — the first year the regional list system was used — and was re-elected in 2004 and 2009. Farage describes himself as a libertarian and rejects the notion that he is a conservative.

In September 2006, Farage became the UKIP Leader and led the party through the 2009 European Parliament Election in which it received the second highest share of the popular vote, defeating Labour and the Liberal Democrats with over two million votes. However he stepped down in November 2009 to concentrate on contesting the Speaker John Bercow's seat of Buckingham in the 2010 general election.

At the 2010 General Election, Farage failed to unseat John Bercow and received only the third highest share of the vote in the constituency. Shortly after the polls opened on 6 May 2010, Nigel Farage was injured in an aircraft crash in Northamptonshire. The two-seated PZL-104 Wilga 35A had been towing a pro-UKIP banner when it flipped over and crashed shortly after takeoff. Both Farage and the pilot were hospitalised with non-life-threatening injuries.^[3]

In November 2010, Farage successfully stood in the 2010 UKIP leadership contest,^[4] following the resignation of its leader, Lord Pearson of Rannoch. Farage was also ranked 41st (out of 100) in The Daily Telegraph's Top 100 most influential right-wingers poll in October 2009, citing his media savvy and his success with UKIP in the European Elections.^[5] Farage was ranked 58th in the 2010 list compiled by Iain Dale and Brian Brivati for the Daily Telegraph.

Background[link]

Farage was educated at Dulwich College before joining a commodity brokerage firm in London. He ran his own brokerage business from the early 1990s until 2002. In his early 20s Farage was diagnosed with testicular cancer but made a full recovery.^[6]

Farage has been married twice. He married Gráinne Hayes in 1988, with whom he had two children: Samuel (1989) and Thomas (1991). In 1999 he married Kirsten Mehr, a German national, by whom he has two more children, Victoria (born 2000) and Isabelle (born 2005).^[7]

Farage has also penned his own memoirs, entitled "Fighting Bull." It outlines the founding of UKIP and his personal and political life so far.

Political career[link]

Conservative Party[link]

Active in the Conservative Party from his school days, Farage left the party in 1992 when John Major's government signed the Treaty on European Union at Maastricht.

UKIP and the European Parliament[link]

Farage became a founding member of UKIP in 1993.

He was elected to the European Parliament in 1999 and re-elected in 2004 and 2009. Farage is presently the leader of the thirteen-member UKIP contingent in the European Parliament, and co-leader of the multinational eurosceptic group, Europe of Freedom and Democracy.

UKIP party leadership[link]

On 12 September 2006, Farage was elected leader of UKIP with 45% of the vote, 20% ahead of his nearest rival.^[8] He pledged to bring discipline to the party and to maximise UKIP's representation in local, parliamentary and other elections.^{[citation needed]} In a PM programme interview on BBC Radio 4 that day he pledged to end the public perception of UKIP as a single-issue party and to work with allied politicians in the Better Off Out campaign, committing himself not to stand against the MPs who have signed up to that campaign (ten in all at this moment).

At his maiden speech to the UKIP conference on 8 October 2006, he told delegates that the party was "at the centre-ground of British public opinion" and the "real voice of opposition". Farage said: "We've got three social democratic parties in Britain — Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative are virtually indistinguishable from each other on nearly all the main issues" and "you can't put a cigarette paper between them and that is why there are nine million people who don't vote now in general elections that did back in 1992."^[9]

At 10pm on 19 October 2006, Farage took part in a three-hour live interview and phone-in with James Whale on national radio station talkSPORT. Four days later, Whale announced on his show his intention to stand as UKIP's candidate in the 2008 London Mayoral Election. Farage said that Whale "not only has guts, but an understanding of what real people think". However Whale later decided not to stand and UKIP was represented by Gerard Batten.^[10] He stood again for UKIP leadership in 2010 after his successor Lord Pearson stood down.^[4] On the 5th November 2010 it was announced Farage had won the leadership contest.^[11]

Westminster elections[link]

Farage had unsuccessfully contested UK parliamentary elections for UKIP five times, both before and after his election as an MEP in 1999. Under the 2002 European Union decision to forbid MEPs from holding a dual mandate, if he was ever elected to the House of Commons, he would have to resign his seat as an MEP.

When he contested the Bromley & Chislehurst constituency in a May 2006 by-election, organised after the sitting MP representing it, eurosceptic Conservative Eric Forth, died, Farage came third, winning 8% of the vote, beating the Labour Party candidate. This was the second-best by-election result recorded by UKIP out of 25 results, and the first time since the Liverpool Walton by-election in 1991 that a party in government had been pushed into fourth place in a parliamentary by-election on mainland Britain.

2010 UK General election[link]

On 4 September 2009 Farage resigned as leader of UKIP to concentrate on his campaign to become Member of Parliament for Buckingham at Westminster in the 2010 general election.^[12] He later told Times journalist Camilla Long that UKIP internal fights took up too much time.^[13]

He stood against Buckingham MP John Bercow, the newly elected Speaker of the House of Commons, despite a convention that the speaker, as a political neutral, is not normally challenged in his or her bid for re-election by any of the major parties.^[14]

On 6 May, on the morning the polls opened in the election, just before eight o'clock Farage was involved in a light aircraft crash, suffering injuries described as non-life-threatening. A spokesperson told the BBC that "it was unlikely Mr Farage would be discharged from hospital today [6 May]^[15] Although his injuries were originally described as minor, his sternum and ribs were broken, and his lung punctured.^[16] The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said that the aeroplane was towing a banner, which caught in the tailplane, forcing the nose down.^[17]

Farage came third with 8,401 votes. Bercow was re-elected, and in second place with 10,331 votes was John Stevens, a former Conservative MEP who campaigned as an independent accompanied by "Flipper the Dolphin" (a reference to MPs flipping second homes).^[18]

On 1 December 2010, the pilot of the aircraft involved in the accident was charged with threatening to kill Farage. He was also charged with threatening to kill an AAIB official involved in the investigation into the accident.^[19] In April 2011, Justin Adams was found guilty of making death threats. The judge said the defendant was "clearly extremely disturbed" at the time the offences happened adding "He is a man who does need help. If I can find a way of giving him help I will."^[20]

Alternative Vote referendum, May 2011[link]

Farage declared himself personally in favour of the Alternative Vote system of May 2011, saying first-past-the-post is a "nightmare" for UKIP. However, the party's stance has to be decided by its central policy making committee.^[21]

May 2012 London Mayor & Local elections[link]

In a "bizarre cock-up," UKIP forgot to put their party name on their candidate's ballot paper for the London mayoral election, 2012^[22], Laurence Webb appearing as "A fresh choice for London." Farage admitted the mistake describing it as an internal error.^[22]
Interviewed by the following Sunday by Andrew Neil and asked about "the game plan", Farage welcomed the "average 13% vote" across the country, and stated that the party was preparing for County council in 2013, European elections in 2014 and a general election in 2015.^[23] The party was no longer just a protest vote, it would have a full manifesto with policies including selective schools, help to small businesses by "getting rid of excessive labour practices" and an energy policy not based on wind turbines.^[23] UKIP was here to stay ..frankly the Tory Eurosceptics were in the wrong party and would be better off joining UKIP. Asked what would happen to UKIP if the Tories made a Manifesto commitment to a European referendum, Farage said they had already failed to honour a "cast iron" commitment for a referendum on the Lisbon treaty.^[23]

Challenging Farange's viewpoint, Neil said UKIP aspired to come top of the European elections but whilst UKIP wanted to join the big time, they were still seen as "unprofessional, amateur and even unacceptable" after their press officer called Baroness Warsi "a bitch".^[23] Farage regretted "the wrong choice of words" but further described Warsi as "the lowest grade chairman the Tory party has ever had."^[23] Neil then mocked the so called internal error which had made Farage "a joke".^[23] "The blunt truth is" UKIP "didn't win any more seats, the performance in London was terrible and they were still a one man band."^[23] Farage conceded London was a failure but they had won council seats elsewhere. He invited Tories who couldn't stand Cameron to help him.^[23]

Controversies and whistleblowing[link]

Copyright infringement[link]

In 1999 the BBC spent four months filming a documentary about his European elections campaign but didn't show it. Farage, then head of UKIP's South East office, asked for a video and got friends to make illegal copies which were sold for £5 through the UKIP magazine. Surrey Trading Standards investigated and Farage has admitted the offence.^[24]

Expenses disclosure[link]

In May 2009, The Guardian reported that Farage had said in a speech to the Foreign Press Association that over ten years as a member of the European Parliament he received £2 million of taxpayers' money in staff, travel, and other expenses on top of his £64,000 a year salary.^[25]

The former Europe Minister, Denis MacShane, said that this showed that Farage was "happy to line his pockets with gold". Farage called this a "misrepresentation",^[26] pointing out that the money had been used to promote UKIP's message and staff salaries, not his own salary, but he welcomed the focus on the issue of MEP expenses, claiming that "[o]ver a five year term each and every one of Britain's 78 MEPs gets about £1 million. It is used to employ administrative staff, run their offices and to travel back and forth between their home, Brussels and Strasbourg."^[27]

Jacques Barrot[link]

On 18 November 2004, Farage announced in the European Parliament that Jacques Barrot, the French Commissioner designate, had been barred from elected office in France for 2 years, after being convicted in 2000 of embezzling £2 million from government funds and diverting it into the coffers of his party. He claimed that French President Jacques Chirac had granted Barrot amnesty. Although initial BBC reports claimed that, under French law, it was illegal even to mention the conviction,^[28] the prohibition in question only applies to French officials in the course of their duties.^[29] The president of the Parliament, Josep Borrell, enjoined him to retract his comments under threat of "legal consequences".^[30] However, the following day it was confirmed that Barrot had received an 8 month suspended jail sentence in the case, and that this had been quickly expunged by the amnesty decided by Chirac and his parliamentary majority. The Commission's president, Jose Manuel Barroso admitted that he had not known of Barrot's criminal record when appointing him as a Commission vice-president.^{[citation needed]} The Socialist and Liberal groups in the European Parliament then joined UKIP in demanding the resignation of Barrot for failing to disclose the conviction during his confirmation hearings.

José Manuel Barroso[link]

During the spring of 2005, Farage requested that the European Commission disclose where the individual Commissioners had spent their holidays. The Commission did not provide the information requested, on the basis that the Commissioners had a right of privacy. The German newspaper Die Welt reported that the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso had spent a week on the yacht of the Greek shipping billionaire Spiro Latsis. It emerged soon afterwards that this had occurred a month before the Commission under Barroso's predecessor Romano Prodi approved 10.3 million euro of Greek state aid for Latsis' shipping company.^[31] It also became known that Peter Mandelson, then a member of the Commission, had accepted a trip to Jamaica from an unrevealed source.

Farage persuaded around 75 MEPs from across the political divide to back a motion of no confidence in Barroso, which would be sufficient to compel Barroso to appear before the European Parliament to be questioned on the issue.^[32] The motion was successfully tabled on 12 May 2005, and Barroso appeared before Parliament^[33] at a debate on 26 May 2005. The motion was heavily defeated. A Conservative MEP, Roger Helmer, was expelled from his group, the European People's Party - European Democrats (EPP-ED) in the middle of the debate by that group's leader Hans-Gert Poettering as a result of his support for Farage's motion.

Joseph Daul[link]

In January 2007, the French farmers' leader Joseph Daul was elected the new leader of the European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED), the European Parliamentary grouping which then included the British Conservatives. The UK Independence Party almost immediately revealed that Daul had been under judicial investigation in France since 2004 as part of an inquiry into the alleged misuse of public funds worth €16 million (£10.6 million) by French farming unions."^[34] It was not suggested that Daul had personally benefited, but was accused of "complicity and concealment of the abuse of public funds." Daul accused Farage of publicising the investigation for political reasons and threatened to sue Farage, but did not do so though the court dropped all charges against him.

Prince Charles[link]

Prince Charles gave a speech to the European Parliament on 14 February 2008, in which he called for EU leadership in the war against climate change. During the standing ovation that followed, Farage was the only MEP to remain seated and went on to describe the Prince's advisers as "naïve and foolish at best."^[35] Farage continued: "How can somebody like Prince Charles be allowed to come to the European Parliament at this time to announce he thinks it should have more powers? It would have been better for the country he wants to rule one day if he had stayed home and tried to persuade Gordon Brown to give the people the promised referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon." The leader of the UK Labour Party's MEPs, Gary Titley, accused Farage of anti-Royalism. Titley said: "I was embarrassed and disgusted when the Leader of the UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage, remained firmly seated during the lengthy standing ovation Prince Charles received. I had not realised Mr Farage's blind adherence to right wing politics involved disloyalty and discourtesy to the Royal Family. He should be thoroughly ashamed of himself and should apologise to the British people he represents."^[35]

Herman Van Rompuy[link]

After the speech of Herman Van Rompuy on 24 February 2010 in the European parliament, Farage—to protests from other MEPs—addressed the first long-term President of the European Council saying that he has the "charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of low grade bank clerk".^[36] Farage questioned the legitimacy of Van Rompuy's appointment asking "Who are you? I'd never heard of you, nobody in Europe had ever heard of you", he also asserted that Van Rompuy's "intention is to be the quiet assassin of European democracy and of European nation states."^[36] In the same speech he also referred to Belgium, the home of Van Rompuy, as "pretty much a non-country".^[37] Van Rompuy commented afterwards, "There was one contribution that I can only hold in contempt, but I'm not going to comment further."^[36] After refusing to apologise for behaviour that was, in the words of the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, "inappropriate, unparliamentary and insulting to the dignity of the House", Farage was reprimanded and had his right to ten days' allowance (expenses) rescinded.^{[38] [39]}

The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, said after his meeting with Farage:

I defend absolutely Mr Farage's right to disagree about the policy or institutions of the Union, but not to personally insult our guests in the European Parliament or the country from which they may come. [. . .] I myself fought for free speech as the absolute cornerstone of a democratic society. But with freedom comes responsibility - in this case, to respect the dignity of others and of our institutions. I am disappointed by Mr Farage's behaviour, which sits ill with the great parliamentary tradition of his own country. I cannot accept this sort of behaviour in the European Parliament. I invited him to apologise, but he declined to do so. I have therefore - as an expression of the seriousness of the matter - rescinded his right to ten days' daily allowance as a Member.^[39]

Questioned by Camilla Long, Farage declared of his speech "it wasn't abusive, it was right."^[13]

European economic governance[link]

He spoke of the EU being "German-dominated" in a speech at the European-Parliament on 18 November 2011.^[40]

Views on the euro[link]

From taking office as a UKIP MEP in 1999, Farage has often voiced opposition to the "euro project". His argument is that "a one size fits all interest rate" cannot work for countries with structurally different economies, often using the example of Greece and Germany to emphasise contrast. He predicted the need for 'bailouts' before European Commission and European Central Bank officials admitted that these steps would be necessary. Specifically, Farage predicted that Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain would all require such assistance. To date, Spain is the only predicted country that has not asked for a 'bailout'. Although Spain and Italy have both had indirect assistance from the ECB, whereby secondary government bonds are bought by the central bank, they are prohibited from purchasing new bonds. Farage warns: "You can ignore the markets if you want to, but in time the markets will not ignore you". Farage also reinforces Germany's argument that Italy "should never have joined the euro".

Farage predicts that if the situation continues it will lead to violence due to the people's inability to "determine their own futures through the ballot box" as it will become the only "logical" tool to enable them to escape from their "economic prison" i.e. the Eurozone. He proclaims "I can only hope and pray that the euro project is destroyed by the markets before that really happens."

Farage strongly opposes the use of 'bailouts' and claims that "buying your own debt with tax payers money" will not solve the problem and that, "if we do, the next debt crisis won't be a country", "it will be the European Central Bank itself".^[41][42]

Electoral performance[link]

Nigel Farage has contested several elections under the United Kingdom Independence Party banner:

• Itchen, Test and Avon, European Parliament Election 1994 - 12,423 votes, representing 5.2% of total votes cast
• Eastleigh by-election, 1994 - 952, 1.4%
• Salisbury, 1997 general election - 3,332, 5.7%
• European Parliament election, 1999 - elected member for South East England from party list
• Bexhill and Battle, 2001 general election - 3,474, 7.8%
• European Parliament election, 2004 - elected member for South East England from party list
• South Thanet, 2005 general election - 2,079, 5.0%
• Bromley and Chislehurst by-election, 2006 - 2,307, 8.0%
• European Parliament election, 2009 - elected member for South East England from party list.
• Buckingham, 2010 general election - 8,410, 17.4%

Footnotes[link]