SECRET Government papers concerning Nestlé’s takeover of York confectioner Rowntree should be made public, the city’s two MPs have said.

Labour’s Hugh Bayley and Conservative Julian Sturdy have joined forces to back The Press in its forthcoming Information Rights Tribunal with the Cabinet Office, over access to 1988 files.

The Information Commissioner ruled last October that five documents held by the Cabinet Office should be released, but the Office has appealed that decision.

A tribunal is expected to decide the matter in May, and both of York’s MPs have now written to the tribunal office, supporting The Press’s stance.

Mr Bayley said: “I believe there is a strong public interest, particularly on the part of York residents, in seeing the impartial record of how the Cabinet Office dealt with the Nestlé takeover.”

Mr Sturdy said the takeover was of “significant interest” to the public, particularly in York.

“I fully support the release of the requested documents and believe that a failure to release them will only undermine public confidence in political accountability and transparency,” he said.

Both MPs backed The Press’s argument that the files were old enough that they could be released without causing any harm.

Government papers would ordinarily be released after 30 years, but the Government announced last year that it would reduce that period to 20 years, and The Press has argued that it is therefore inconsistent for the Cabinet Office to refuse to release 24-year-old files.

In a separate tribunal ruling in 2010, a judge also set out conditions in which documents should be released before the usual 30 years, and The Press and Information Commissioner have both argued that publication is appropriate in this case.

In his letter to the tribunal, Mr Sturdy wrote: “Following the present Government’s decision to reduce the 30-year-rule relating to the publication of Cabinet documents down to just 20 years, it seems illogical that access to the above-mentioned papers could be blocked, despite them being over 23 years old.”

Mr Bayley said there was an “inconsistency” in the Cabinet Office refusing to release the documents, given the change in Government policy.

Nestlé’s takeover of Rowntree was controversial, partly because Nestlé was effectively protected by Swiss law from such takeover attempts.

More than 13,500 people signed the then Yorkshire Evening Press’s Hands Off Rowntree petition coupons, which were sent to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and more than 1,500 Rowntree workers and supporters held a rally outside the Houses of Parliament.