Whitehall should routinely publish official information without waiting to be asked, the outgoing information commissioner has warned. As the MPs expenses scandal escalated last week, after the official publication of receipts was marred by large swathes of material being ‘blacked out', information commissioner, Richard Thomas, delivered his final speech, and urged improved Whitehall transparency. Mr Thomas, who steps down at the end of June, called for an instinctive ‘culture of routine, proactive and substantially-increased openness'. The information commissioner has been a vocal critic of how the public sector handles information, particularly for failing to protect sensitive data, but his call for improving public scrutiny marked a new departure. Greater transparency, he argued, followed the introduction of the 2000's Freedom of Information Act. But he urged decision-makers to continue to embed the spirit of disclosure in future constitutional reforms. ‘There is now much talk of constitutional reform and re-connecting people with politics. FOI must be embedded within this debate. It is a defining feature of modern democracy,' he said. ‘People are suspicious of secrecy and cover-up, and no longer expect to be kept in the dark. Public authorities must earn the trust and confidence of the public. They should identify their crown jewels – the information that really cannot be made public – and ensure other official information is routinely disclosed without waiting for requests.'