the British Parliament, and the data that I wanted to get my hands on were the expense receipts of members of Parliament. 那就是英国议会，而我想拿到手的资料就是下院议员的花费收据。

　　I thought this was a basic question to ask in a democracy. 我认为这是在民主社会最基本需要知道的东西。

　　It wasn't like I was asking for the code to a nuclear bunker, or anything like that, 我又不是在要求知道核武器堆的密码或者类似的，

　　but the amount of resistance I got from this Freedom of Information request, you would have thought I'd asked something like this. 但是，我为了知道这冠上“信息自由”的信息，可是费了不少的功夫才冲破重重阻碍，其间的困难是你不能预想到的。

　　So I fought for about five years doing this, and it was one of many hundreds of requests that I made, not 我大概用了五年的时间才有今天的结果，而这只是我所提出需要了解的几百种信息的中的一点，

　　I didn't, Hey, look, I didn't set out, honestly, to revolutionize the British Parliament. That was not my intention. 不过，我要说，我没有想要彻底改革英国议会。那根本不是我的意图。

　　I was just making these requests as part of research for my first book. 我只是在为了我出第一本书做出的一点努力。

　　But it ended up in this very long, protracted legal battle 但是我确意想不到的打了这么久的官司，

　　and there I was after five years fighting against Parliament in front of three of Britain's most eminent High Court judges 经过长达五年与英国高院三位最杰出法官的较量，

　　waiting for their ruling about whether or not Parliament had to release this data. 等待他们决定议会是否应该公开这些信息。

　　And I've got to tell you, I wasn't that hopeful, because I'd seen the establishment. 今天我必须告诉你，原本并不是那么有希望，因为我见证了议会的建立。

　　I thought, it always sticks together. I am out of luck. 我觉得议会做事一般是不透露的。我可能没有运气找到什么吧。

　　Well, guess what? I won. Hooray. 但是，你们猜猜？我胜利了。啊哈！