Secrecy...outdated concept?
Dervish,
To my cynical mind it's to bring us more into line with the US system which doesn't do Restricted - they have For Official Use Only. That said I am quite happy to see the back of Confidential - what a balls ache that one is.
As for downgrading policy, remember that unless you are the originator of a document then officially you shouldn't be downgrading it at all. So unless you get it in writing from up the chain that you are auth'd to downgrade stuff you didn't produce, and unless you have very specific criteria for what can and can't be downgraded, you're potentially on a sticky wicket.