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  Tip of icebergs ?
  
  Exclusive: Eric Pickles' officials 'tried to suppress emails'
  
  Officials working for Tory minister Eric Pickles have been accused of an extraordinary attempt
  
  to suppress internal government emails - on the grounds that publishing such correspondence
  
  could lead to unwelcome "political and media exposure".
  
  In a bizarre intervention, civil servants in Mr Pickles' Department of Communities and Local Government
  
  claimed that they should be exempt from complying with a Freedom of Information request because
  
  of the risk that if they routinely had to release such documents they could cause embarrassment
  
  to ministers or officials. The officials added that the fact that the FOI request came from the
  
  Opposition should in itself count against disclosure, as it was likely to be used for political attacks.
  
  But the attempt was stopped by the Information Commissioner, who ruled that the department
  
  must disclose the information - and could not discriminate against applicants.
  
  Full story Independent.

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