Ministers at the time said that the law would be used sparingly and wisely. However, given their unceasing efforts to prevent the British public reading a book freely available all over the world, there is considerable room for doubt on this point. If all possible harm has been done by the initial disclosure, it is not an offence to repeat the information. But if further harm is possible, then any repetition of the information could become a new offence. A national paper will not be in a position to know whether giving wide publicity to an item published in a small local paper could lead to further harm, and prosecution.
Papers are thus reluctant to repeat information already in the public domain.
The outcome being to follow ones lawyer's advice, play it safe and keep quiet. The British press has become rather quiescent as a result and much information of a potentially embarrassing nature to the government rarely sees the light of day. Nowhere in the UK Official Secrets Act can be found the words public interest. A civil servant or a journalist could reveal information about behaviour so monumentally disgraceful and so completely unacceptable that no minister would dare defend it. On Saturday November 4th, Mr. Clinton finally vetoed Section 302 of the Intelligence Authorization Act .