Ministers in Tony Blair’s government were advised to use Post-it notes for sensitive messages to avoid having to release them under new Freedom of Information, according newly-released official files.
The Labour government had originally passed the Freedom of Information Act in 2000 but as the full implementation date approached on January 1 2005 there was growing disquiet among ministers and senior officials at the implications.
Why post-it notes? If they are required to keep official documents, how would the size of the paper, or the slightly sticky part make a difference over, say, a piece of A4?
Presumably not every scrap of paper has to be kept, and this fell into a loophole or grey area.
I would guess they thought it was a loop hole but were wrong.