Shortly,
Gosh, you do get yourself confused with quotes like:-
"quite liberal middle level managers we have in FOPS at the moment"
"all we ask for is understanding from our Bosses and a fair hearing"
I am seriously concerned by the lack of information to crews about incidents on the a/c which they fly. This paranoid secrecy is not acceptable for a major airline with a "safety" culture. The argument that "it gets in the papers" is not valid as the response should be that we all want/need to learn anything we can from these reports, or be warned of potential failures. The retribution for those that admit their mistakes to warn others will only cause an increasing reluctance to speak up. I am not just referring to errors but also mechanical failures which we should be more thoroughly informed of.
I'm sure if you asked around you'd find out who really are the "pitbulls"!!