The Guardian The BSE crisis and the subsequent problems over CJD would have been grievous at any time, but one clear conclusion of Lord Phillips' inquiry into the issue was that characteristic Whitehall secrecy, the disposition to hide the truth and hope that the issue would go away, made things far worse. That finding, on all past performance, will be warmly endorsed by both sides of the Commons. Whether it will have any lasting effect is an utterly different matter.
Most oppositions come into office pledging themselves to end the culture of secrecy.
Most governments, once their feet are under the table and they start accruing secrets they want to hide, begin backtracking. John Major, to do him justice, did more than most, introducing a code of practice which, while falling well short of open government in the generally accepted sense, removed some at least of the wrappings in which ministers and civil servants like to shroud themselves. Labour, in opposition, condemned the code as no more than a dipping of toes into a turbulent ocean. They echoed and endorsed the findings of the Scott report into arms sales to Iraq, which diagnosed the climate excessive secrecy as an essential part of the scandal. The Scott report to Iraq revealed Conservative abuses of power.