I SUPPORT Celia Ball and Blackburn Quakers' concern at the attempt to sabotage the Freedom of Information Act as proposed.

Many citizens under 60 are not aware that the wartime Secrecy Act of 1940 and its D17 censorship have never been thoroughly rescinded.

When Stalin and Hitler used such an act, we called it an attack upon freedom and democracy. Today, it is called 'not in the public interest.'

As Ceasar Claudius observed: "When an empire collapses, we get deceit, immorality, effeminate men, and a godless nation."

FRANK FOSTER, Halifax Road, Brierfield.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.