How might the information act have changed path of history?

Published on Wednesday 24 February 2010 20:03

SCOTTISH public authorities have been working with the Freedom of Information Act for five years and have disclosed details to members of the public on a range of subjects, from expenses and finances to correspondence and planning.

Freedom of information (FoI) requests have helped to uncover MSP expenses details, the mortality rates of NHS surgeons, details of the PFI contract for the building of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, the costs associated with Glasgow's bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games and communications between the Home Office and the Scottish Government on the detention of the children of asylum seekers in Scotland.

Many cases, large and small, have had an effect on the recent history of Scotland, from local issues such as schools closures to national details on environmental matters.

But what if FoI had been in place decades, or even hundreds of years, ago? What could we have found out and how would it have affected the course of history?

Might the records of public and private meetings between Mary, Queen of Scots and Lord Bothwell prior to Lord Darnley's murder have further implicated her in death of her husband?

No greater event has had more impact on Scotland than the Act of Union in 1707. Questions remain about the fairness of the act and how it was implemented. Following its accession, might FoI have uncovered how many Scottish peers and MPs were in receipt of secret and official payments before and during negotiations? Would the separatist movement have been given greater importance had this information been shared with ordinary Scots?

Scotland's influence has spread throughout the centuries, especially to the colonies. How many people have emigrated since 1800? Could FoI have uncovered the extent to which Scots were leaving the country and would politicians have thought twice before advocating their decision to move abroad? Working with the National Archives of Scotland (NAS), The Scotsman wants to hear your suggestions on the historical mysteries that FoI might have helped to uncover if it had existed earlier.

The most interesting questions, as chosen by The Scotsman and the NAS, will be treated as closely as possible to a real FoI case and investigated retrospectively by a team of researchers to see what they uncover.

David Brown, the head of the NAS collections development branch, says FoI requests, now common in Scotland, would have been looked on "very dimly" in the non-democratic age of centuries past. He says: "You can imagine the furore that would have greeted any serious attempt by an ordinary Joe or Josephine to find out how exactly King William instructed the Scottish secretary in the period before the massacre of Glencoe.

"The world of the 17th, 18th and early 19th century is one in which Scotland had a political nation of about 5,000 to 6,000 people amid a population of 1.5 to two million people. It is a completely different proposition to the world now, with 2.5 to three million voters."

Prof Brown says records will still exist to allow his team to investigate the questions that may be asked. "Central government kept records then, as it does now," he adds. "Not in great quantities – obviously there were no photocopiers, no typewriters, everything had to be copied manually. But it was a well-ordered, well-structured government. But, in those days, the most important material did not get on to paper. For example, it will never be proved conclusively what Mary's role was in the murder of Darnley, but some public records can give us a suggestion of that."

Prof Brown, a historian, scotches suggestions that, prior to the introduction of FoI, the UK and Scotland was a particularly secretive state, perhaps hinting that the job his researchers face might not be hindered by a wholesale destruction of documents, or other nefarious means.

Some high-profile Scottish figures have already put forward suggestions for investigation. These include Professor Tom Devine, head of Edinburgh University's School of History, Classics and Archaeology, who has asked: "What message did Rudolf Hess have for the British authorities when he landed in Lanarkshire in 1940?"

And First Minister Alex Salmond has put forward the proposed request: "All information held by government, including records of Cabinet discussions, relating to the recovery of the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1950, and on the authenticity of the stone that was returned."

To be considered, the questions must be of a historical nature and the incidence or question must not relate to an event or information after 1960.

• To make a suggestion, leave a comment on www.scotsman.com; e-mail with the subject line "Scotland's Secrets", or send your suggestions to Chris Mackie, The Scotsman, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, EH8 8AS.

UP FOR INVESTIGATION?

SOME high-profile Scots have already made suggestions of historical incidents that could be investigated using FoI principles. These include:

JAMES ROBERTSON, AUTHOR

• 1727 – How many women have been burnt or otherwise executed for witchcraft in Scotland, and how many men?

JIM WALLACE (LORD WALLACE OF TANKERNESS)

• The Building of the Antonine Wall – What objections were received from the equivalent of Historic Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage in respect of Antoninus' planning application for a wall?

• What terms were agreed between King James III and the King of Denmark, regarding the future redemption of the islands of Orkney and Shetland?"

PROF ROBERT CRAWFORD, ST ANDREWS UNIVERSITY, POET AND AUTHOR

• How many voters were there in Robert Burns's Ayrshire?

ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH, AUTHOR

• The Appin Murder of 1752 – What instructions had the Red Fox received in relation to the collection of rents in the Ardsheal Estate prior to his murder and, incidentally, who shot him?