With support from the University of Richmond

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59 things that would have stayed secret

What they didn't want you to know: A list of intriguing facts disinterred by the [UK] Freedom of Information Act.

*Ministers and MPs were claiming thousands of pounds on taxis as part of £5.9m in expenses for travel

*The Thatcher Government concocted a plan to search for the Loch Ness monster using a team of dolphins

*Foreign diplomats – who have diplomatic immunity – were accused of rapes, sexual assaults, child abuse and murders while working in Britain

*The Government agreed a £1.5m bailout of one of the most troubled schools in its flagship city academies programme ten days before the 2005 general election

*People charged with certain criminal offences in Warwickshire are 30 per cent more likely to be convicted than those in Bedfordshire. The figures showed huge variations in performance of the Crown Prosecution Service

*Politicians are spending £2.2bn a year of taxpayers’ money on private management consultants

*Ted Heath was once offered concert work by Idi Amin of Uganda. The eccentric dictator made his offer in a 1977 telegram ....
Read entire article at Times (UK)