National Archive secrets: whatever happened to the 30-year rule?

There is nothing new in politics. Twenty years ago, Tony Blair was demanding “radical measures” to deter asylum seekers, and considering options such as detention camps on Scottish islands or the Falklands, processing centres abroad, and repudiating the European Convention on Human Rights. Other stories that have been picked up by the media from the 2003 Blair papers include Jeremy Heywood, the civil servant linchpin of No 10, telling the prime minister, after Alastair Campbell had announced his departure, that Labour’s press operation had “lost all credibility”. Other headlines generated include: “Blair resisted calls for public inquiry after Soham murders”; “John Prescott complained about not having a proper job in Blair’s government”; “Blair was advised to work with militants in Kosovo”; “Blair ignored warnings from senior colleagues about ID card scheme”; and “Blair lobbied Berlusconi on behalf of British American Tobacco despite ministerial warning.” There must be more. The original of William Hague’s letter of 29 January 2001 asking Blair to authorise pre-election meetings between opposition spokespeople and senior civil servants, for example, has yellowing tape across it.