Clark hopes Cunningham will continue modernisation

Former cabinet minister and victim of yesterday's reshuffle David Clark, spoke this morning to Silicon News about his concerns over the future of electronic government.

Commenting on whether Jack Cunningham's additional role as Cabinet enforcer would delay the modernisation of Whitehall, Clark said: "I hope not, but every minister has his own agenda and we'll just have to wait and see what his priorities are.

"We've published the White Paper and there have been a number of Cabinet committees, so the draft bill is currently under way and there have been no major points of concession," he added.

Also facing a potential delay is the Freedom of Information Bill, but Clark is optimistic it will remain in its present format.

He said: "I hope there is no regression. The two big things I did in office are the Freedom of Information Bill and bringing government onto a secure intranet. I put in place a system that Jack will be able to use. There's no going back now."

Clark claimed he was disappointed, but not surprised, about his removal from office. He said his conscience is clear and he leaves the position in a far better state than when he arrived 15 months ago.