Nothing can be more deleterious to the possibility of sound judgement than the availability of information and the requirement to submit one's reasoning to external scrutiny. Fortunately, in this country, we have a better system of government with politicians and civil servants ready to defend it and the magisterial results it produces.
The publication of documents outlining the risks relating to the government's health changes could lead to a "distorted and wildly speculative interpretation of risk", according to the permanent secretary of the Department of Health.
Una O'Brien also warned that publishing the documents would have a "chilling effect" on the way civil servants tasked with outlining the potential pitfalls of a policy commit their views to paper, as the government fights to keep secret the contents of its risk assessments of the government's shakeup of the NHS.
