The Tories erase all speeches from the web. AIBU to think this us really sinister?

[aufaniae]

The Tories have erased their entire archive of speeches from the web.
I challenge anyone to defend this - how on earth could this be in the public interest?

Article here

It's not a space saving exercise - they are actually trying to censor them - the article says

"In a remarkable step the party has also blocked access to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, a US-based library that captures webpages for future generations, using a software robot that directs search engines not to access the pages."

I am not shocked, by either the Tories or the Labour party doing it.
If we already lived with a true and properly functioning democracy then I would be.

Here are just some of the speeches they've tried to hide:

Cameron pledges there will be no major changes to the structure of the NHS (November 2009)

Cameron tells an audience at Google that the search engine is giving people power (May 2006)

"What Google has achieved is truly amazing…. You’ve begun the process of democratising the world’s information. Democratising is the right word to use because by making more information available to more people, you’re giving them more power"

George Osborne commits to increasing state spending (October 2007)

"I have committed us to two per cent a year spending rises for the next three years. This will mean real increases for our public services."

Cameron pledges to let the public kick out MPs halfway through a parliament (February 2010)

Buzzfeed reports "The government is belatedly introducing a watered-down version of this law. But now you’ll struggle to find his original speech"

David Cameron’s sets out his Big Society vision (November 2009)

George Osborne praising the internet’s ability to make politics more accountable (March 2007)

"We need to harness the internet to help us become more accountable, more transparent and more accessible - and so bridge the growing gap between government and governed"

They've also deleted the records of David Cameron’s April 2006 trip to the Arctic to raise awareness of climate change

List thanks to Buzzfeed

I linked where I found the information in my first post, dawndonnaagain.

Many organisations prune what is on their websites. No need to single out one.

Now, what I think is scandalous is the removal of previously posted governmental information (such as minutes of JCVI) from easily accessible websites.

Thing is, why bother? Don't get the point apart from to see if they could.

Edith, you linked to the other thread, but there is nothing there other than a comment from somebody to say Labour have done anything. Maybe I'm missing something but I did check all the links on the thread.

Aaargh, sorry Edith ds talking to me whilst typing. There doesn't appear to be anything there other than a comment stating that Labour have done the same, however, no evidence that I can see to back this up.

now lack of punctuation. It's been a long day. Apologies!

"The first step is to redistribute power and control from the central state and its agencies to individuals and local communities."

What we failed to understand was that, by 'power and control', he actually meant 'accountability and responsibility'

How was this information recorded before the web??

Perhaps the copyright libraries such as the British Library, Bodeian, Cambridge University Library and Trinity College Dublin (I think) ought to be upgrading alarms and sprinkler systems...?

Mind you, only a few people can use those, so removing internet/remote/ "populist" access to what a party has said is pretty damned undemocrstic!

Does anyone know what reason excuse they gave to do this?

And yes, readers passes to the British Library (and I assume the others) were only given to students/academics/journalists last time I checked. Plus you have to physically get to London.

From what I understand Labour removed old speeches from their website. What they didn't do, and what the Tories DID do, is remove them from the main internet archive and block searches for them; it's still possible to find the archived Labour speeches . What the Tories have done is quite obviously designed to obfuscate the huge number of U-turns they've pulled and promises they've broken in government (no more top-down reorganisation of the NHS, anyone?).

Myself I think it's futile and thus a(nother) massive own gial - apparently the British Library has archived them all anyway.

GOAL, obvs.

Actually, Malvagia, the British Library now has a surprisingly open access policy for readers. Have a look at their website.

I don't find it sinister. I find it hilarious that they are so naive and stupid that they think this will erase people's memories in some way.

Oh that's good, I knew that there were some things you can access things offsite but I got the impression (I can't remember where I read it now - maybe CIF comments or somewhere like that) that those particular archives could only be accessed on site/from a reading room.

I am sure that there are more than enough political commentators on TV to research and remind Parties what was promised pre Election.

Just as they always did, before the Internet was invented. After all, all Party Conference speeches, for instance, are recorded on film so anything that was said has not been lost or hidden!

TBH I think this is a storm in a teacup.

No, Malvagia, you're right about that. The point I was trying to make was that it's much easier/less exclusive to become an onsite reader than you suggest. You need to express a reason why you want to consult the collections, but you don't have to be a student/academic/journalist.

I don't gt it.
Why would they want to remove all the good things they said over the last ten years?

Are they trying to give New Labour a fair break in the coming election?

Claig

Well they can't regret everything they said over the last 10 years. I can understand if they are embarrassed about the ridiculous claims that climate catastophe would destroy the planet and hug a hoodie and all that stuff, but not everything else they said over the last 10 years.

Claig do you not have a sneaking suspicion right now that the Tories deleted all those speeches because they didn't actually mean them? They just said that stuff to get people (like you?) to vote for them.

It's all hot air. They would rather you forget their promises.

No I don't think that can be the reason, because every major newspaper will have mentioned policies that were in their speeches and they are all on the internet.

Who actually reads the Conservative Party website apart from some MPs and SPADS? Everyone reads the Daily Mail and Guardian etc instead and it is all in there.

Also in 10 years they must have said a few good things that they are proud of, such as the crap about Big Society, so they surely don't want to renege on everything they believed and talked about.

On the other hand, I can well understand New Labour wanting to delete everything they said from the past 10 years, and expect them to delete stuff from earlier too, when they get round to it.

'It's all hot air. They would rather you forget their promises.'

No one believes their promises anyway. Didn't Cameron promise some sort of referendum on Europe and didn't Clegg make promises about student fees?