As transparent as possible?

An important article by Rachel Sylvester today, on the implications of the Damian Green arrest.  She sees it as a sympton of wider dissatisfaction with the way government information is disseminated:

“The Freedom of Information Act, designed to open up the workings of the political elite to the masses, has, they believe, turned into a huge distraction. Last week, the Cabinet Secretary made clear his irritation when he gave evidence to a tribunal considering whether the minutes of Cabinet meetings in the run-up to the war in Iraq should be released. Other senior civil servants moan about the time they spend on freedom of information requests. ‘The whole thing has become a nightmare,’ says one permanent secretary. ‘It is starting to hamper the way in which Government works.’ They have a point. Of course, as a journalist I am all in favour of getting as much information as possible. But there comes a time when the public interest means that some things should be kept private.