Ministers want to make it more difficult to expose what they’re up to behind closed doors

‘Ministers could be given stronger powers to block scrutiny of public bodies under government transparency law, Downing Street has said.

Speaking ahead of the expected release of documents detailing Prince Charles’s correspondence with ministers, Number 10 argued that there was a “strong case” for beefing up the ministerial veto on freedom of information requests.

“Our view remains – as the government has argued in the lengthy legal proceedings [regarding the Prince’s correspondence] – that there is a strong case for there being the ability to exercise a ministerial veto,” he told a briefing of journalists.’

Read more: Ministers want to make it more difficult to expose what they're up to behind closed doors