----- Original Message -----
From: "chasvincent" <chasvincent(a)btinternet.com>
To: <GLAMORGAN-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Wednesday 02 2001 2:35 AM
Subject: Census
>>>>
>>How do you all feel about the census being held from the public for 100
years.
Is it not time we told the Government what we want.I suggest an e mail an
MP.
campaign.[National] please read below, whats wrong with 30 years.
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During the past few years, over 30 MPs have helped our team of UK and New
Zealand census historians by asking questions in the House of Commons, and
elsewhere, about personal census records. Those MPs have helped us make
one
important breakthrough. We now know that, before 1981, no informants
had
been promised that census records would be closed for 100 years. In
particular, two Ministers have confirmed that 1911 census informants were
not promised that the the census books would be closed for 100 years.
Until
recently, Government policy statements had falsely claimed that the
1911
census returns must be kept closed for 100 years because informants had
been
promised that the returns would be closed for that period of time.
But this discovery seems to have made no difference whatsoever to
Government
plans to keep the 1911 census closed to public inspection for 100
years
although a recent High Court judgement may help census historians gain
access to the 1911 census books before 2012.
As you will have heard, The Sunday Times has recently won a court battle
over The Big Breach by Richard Tomlinson, the book that the Government
says
contains material damaging to national security and the work of MI6.
We
set
out below our reasons for believing that arguments accepted by the
Court
of
Appeal in the MI6 case could be applied to personal census
information.
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