I will be opposing the amendment. The Government is satisfied that commencement of the release of Cabinet records after five years would prevent the articulation of views by Ministers in memoranda and other records coming to Government. This would be detrimental to a process which relies on Ministers freely articulating views prior to their submission to Cabinet so that there is the maximum opportunity to forge a consensus. I do not believe that a one year extension from five to six years would serve to address these concerns in any meaningful way. The Government has taken the considered view that a ten-year period of protection is necessary so that Ministers can continue to have confidence that views given by them in memoranda will be sufficiently protected. A period of ten years, which is still very short by international standards, represents a reasonable balance between the requirements of openness and transparency and the need to ensure that the processes of Cabinet function effectively.