Such was the uproar at the government’s rigged review into freedom of information legislation that it started to beat a very hasty retreat.

The mood music has changed completely. But that makes it all the more important that we stay vigilant.

This is not the last attack on this vital tool for you and us to hold public authorities to account and it will not be the last.

Those that operate in the corridors of power, corridors that are paid for by council taxpayers, seem to hate the need for transparency.

But they never say that even if that would be an example of them being open and honest.

Instead they hide behind arguments about cost or resources and then, without fail, focus on the frivolous. I’ll tackle that one in a moment.

The bureaucrats hide their desire to restrict our right to know behind seemingly boring complaints about process. Sir Humphrey of Yes Minister fame would be ever so proud. It makes you wonder what they have to hide.

Thanet District Council’s submission to the review is a case in point and what they had to say was rather predictable.

Funnily enough, they did not call for greater openness. They did not argue for the public to be given even greater access to their machinations nor did they welcome freedom of information with welcome arms.

Instead they belligerently complain that: “The public’s desire for information appears to be insatiable.”

They bellyache that the process cost the authority £65,000 in 2014/15.

And they whinge that someone asked them how many times 50 Shades of Grey had been borrowed from libraries and how many members of their staff have a name starting with the letter A.

Their solution is to charge £25 for each request that is made and make changes to some of the other rules.

Let’s tackle each of these issues one by one.

First our insatiable desire to know what is being done in our name. This information already belongs to us. We pay for it from our council tax and council officers should be only too ready to help us access what is already ours. That desire is a good thing and should be celebrated not groaned about.

Next the cost. Their figure of £65,000 spent in 2014/15 represents 0.3% of their 2015/16 budget of around £16m.

We acknowledge that times are tough and central government is severely restricting its flow of cash to Thanet’s coffers.

But surely there are more considerable savings to be made elsewhere. I’m sure readers have their own suggestions.

And finally frivilous requests. Thanet can only cite two in their submission plus the businesses who find it easier to file a freedom of information request than look for themselves.

The solution here is an easy one.

As the long-serving director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, Maurice Frankel, said: “Local government regularly highlights the most bizarre FoI requests.

“The point is to suggest that freedom of information is used for trivial and pointless and vexatious purposes when that is not the case.

“The requests that are featured in those summaries are the requests that cost nothing because no intelligent freedom of information officer is going to spend time searching the files for an action plan on zombies.”

All it takes is a simple letter letting them know where to go. I could write that for considerably less than £67 and am happy to offer my services for free.

Being as open and honest as you can is embarrassing sometimes as your mistakes are exposed. But you learn from them and move on.

Councillors, elected by us, were wrong to let this submission go forward.

They should be standing up for our rights not appeasing those who wish for those rights to be trampled on.