There are 5 standard excuses used for mistakes by ministers, as briefed by Sir Humphrey Appleby. The government will no doubts use all ofthem, here they are:
1. The is a perfectly satisfactory explanation for everything, but security forbids it’s disclosure.
2. It only went wrong because of heavy cuts in staff and budgets which stretched supervisory resources beyond their limits.
3. I was a worth while experiment now abandoned, but not before it provided much valuable data and considerable employment.
4. It occurred before certain important facts where known, and couldn’t happen again.
5. It was an unfortunate lapse by an individual which has now been dealt with by internal disciplinary procedures.
Sadly, rather that admit to a mistake and sort it out, they will waste time, money and effort finding someone to blame etc.
Another relevant quote form Yes, (Prime) Minister:
"Britain should always be on the side of law and justice, so long as we don't allow it to affect our foreign policy."
Keep up the good fight one and all.
FF