Newly released records from 1975 include documents on John Stonehouse, EEC Referendum and Wilson's 'Little Things that Mean a Lot'
December 2005
Recent releases at The National Archives
Freedom of Information and the end of the 30-year rule
With the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act, the standard 30-year closure period has disappeared. Instead, records are open on transfer to The National Archives unless they contain information covered by an exemption set out in the Act. Of the 31,000 records held by The National Archives dated 1975, three quarters (75%) are already available to the public. Thursday 29 December 2005 marked the transfer of certain high profile records to The National Archives rather than the expiry of their closure period.
Digital images of documents available on DocumentsOnline
In accordance with the standards of e-government, The National Archives is making images of some 1975 records available on this website free of charge for a limited period only for anyone to view.
Cabinet minutes (CAB 128) and Cabinet memoranda (CAB 129) released on 29 December 2005 are available via DocumentsOnline
Cabinet papers (CAB 130/801) (CAB 164/1299) detailing the government's plans in the event of nuclear war reveal that government bunkers would be manned by civil servants, hospitals would be emptied, and art treasures would be saved. Go to DocumentsOnline to view CAB 130/801
Go to DocumentsOnline to view CAB 164/1299
The following stories from 1975 contain images of original documents:
PREM 16/447 and PREM 16/455 detail Wilson´s ´Little Things That Mean a Lot´. The idea was that the government would speak up for low-cost issues, such as keeping the pint measure that would arouse a positive response from the country.
See the documentsPREM 16/587-589 reveals the situation that John Stonehouse MP found himself in after being arrested by police in Melbourne.
See the documentsThe newly released files on Northern Ireland show how the Government was dealing with one of the worst years of the Troubles, in which 247 people died. See the documents
Indexes to all newly released documents are available on the Catalogue
