This entry was posted on
Thursday, April 28th, 2005 at
5:31 pm and is filed
under UK General Election 2005.

You should be too. Please do this.

Then see what is being hidden from you.

And, when you’re done with that, please do some of this.

Busy as I am, I managed to egg myself silly this afternoon (see pic). More is on the way. Plus a groovy article about terror and (with luck) one final Flash music video. Stay tuned.

I submitted a Subject Access Form to the Labour Party on 10/03/05. The Data Protection Act allows a 40-day period in which to process such requests for information. This deadline passed over a week ago and Melanie Onn, the Constitutional and Legal Officer for the Legal and Financial Compliance Taskforce for the Labour Party has been dodging my calls and ignoring my emails for 2 days now. If she manages to dodge me again tomorrow, then the weekend (and Bank Holiday on Monday) will pass, and I will have only 3 days in which to contact her.

Even if this conversation takes place and results in a promise of delivery of the data that I have a right to (that is now over a week overdue), this data will take at least a day to reach me, and the earliest I can expect it is May 4th. That’s best-case scenario, folks.

I think it’s pretty clear what is going on here. I’m sure the Labour Party will be more than happy to take the requisite slap on the wrist from the Information Commissioner’s Office after the election has passed us by.

PS – Here’s a ‘damp squib’ for you.

UPDATE (9:26am 29 April) – I tried to reach Melanie Onn again this morning, but was advised by communications advisor Rupert Jones that she was out campaigning. Instead of focusing on her role as Constitutional and Legal Officer. So I asked to speak to someone else on the Legal and Financial Compliance Taskforce. No dice, sorry. They’re all out and about, too. Instead of doing their bloody job! So I asked to speak to whoever oversees the Legal and Financial Compliance Taskforce.

Finally, I was briefly put on hold and then told by Rupert Jones that “the matter I was calling about had been dealt with”.

Oh, really? So where was my data? When was it sent? The best I could get was an assumption that it had be mailed yesterday.

Please note that I did not get this assurance without having to push for it. They would have been just as happy to have me try to get back in touch on Tuesday.

UPDATE (10:43am 30 April) – By gum, they delivered! 10 days late, and only after I badgered them. And what did they deliver? Half-a-page of data relating to my subscription to their email newsletter. And that’s it. Well, not even that, really. When I say ‘half-a-page’, I mean more like a full page, but with the text cut in half on every line so as to make the data meaningless. There’s more, but you’ll need to wait for bit while I get my ducks in a row (I do love it when they argue).