In a way it is not that difficult, I guess. It is instructive to share some of the wisdom that Sir Humphrey dished out in private to his peers and junior. I for one would not be surprised if the real bureaucrat here and everywhere thinks the same. But it is definitely worth pondering, in these days where the mantra for prosperity is 'less government and more private enterprise', whether the bureaucracy really will allow that to happen without a fight. So here goes.
Open government is a contradiction in terms.
You can be open, or you can have government. Citizens in a democracy have a right to be ignorant. If people do not know what you're doing, they do not know what you're doing wrong. A free press is really a nuisance, isn't it. When a minister actually starts to run his department, things are not going pretty well.