MR MANDELSON KEEPS A SECRET

Sue Cameron finds no evidence that

Labour government will mean more open government

AT THE very moment when Whitehall might be expected to start casting aside some of its veils of secrecy, supporters of greater openness in Britain's government find themselves close to despair. It is not the Tories who are causing such gloom — secretive though they are. It is not even the sound of senior civil servants trying to batten down the hatches in the wake of the Scott report that is spreading despondency.

What has triggered real alarm among the campaigners is the prospect of a Labour victory at the next election. Their fears are well grounded. This month, at a seminar on open government, Roger Free- man, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancast- er, and Peter Mandelson, Labour spokesman on the civil service, seemed to be batting not just on the same wicket but on the same side — i.e. against further dis- closure. What worried some members of the audience was that Mr Mandelson was by far the hardest hitter.

Mr Freeman opened on behalf of the Government — but without much convic- tion. The evidence he produced to back up his boasts about Government openness was risible — disclosure of research into the long-term effects on human health of exposure to sheep dips was one of his main examples.

Mr Freeman is an able man and a decent cove. Small wonder therefore that though he weaselled away manfully at his brief, he looked increasingly uncomfort- able. He would have done better to have left the job to Mr Mandelson.

Mr Mandelson has sometimes been described as the Prince of Darkness, but this is too woolly a title to do justice to his talents. He might more aptly be compared to that Prince of Church and State — Car- dinal Richelieu. It was after all the Cardi- nal who insisted, 'Secrecy is the first essential in affairs of State.'

Mr Mandelson has never actually been in government, but already he is showing a clearer grasp of the essentials than some. The seminar was looking specifically at whether the public should have greater access to government policy advice. Where Mr Freeman havered on this, Mr Mandel- son was clear. 'We must', he said gravely, `be very careful before we edge civil ser- vice advice to ministers further into the public domain.' He has plainly grasped the fact that one of the most duplicitous words in Whitehall's rich vocabulary of guile is the word 'advice'. To ordinary citizens it means 'counsel'. To mandarins — and min- isters — it is an omnibus word covering anything and everything they say to each other be it in conversation or on paper, in earnest or in jest. It certainly covers the hard information civil servants give to min- isters as well as their policy recommenda- tions, and because all 'advice' to ministers is kept secret it is the Catch 22 of White- hall's conventions on confidentiality.

Witness the Commons investigation into the Westland scandal. MPs found it hard to pin blame for the leaking of the Solicitor- General's letter on anyone. What stymied them was the lack of facts about who knew what when — they did not need to know what counsel ministers had been given. By the same token, some of the most damning passages in the Scott report on exports to Iraq concern straightforward information — not suggestions or discussion about what action might be taken.

No wonder Mr Mandelson is chary about the disclosure of civil service 'advice' to ministers. Doubtless his supporters would defend him by pointing out that he and the Labour Party are committed to introducing a Freedom of Information Act. This fright- ens the supporters of open government even more. They believe the likes of Mr Mandelson will follow the lead of Aus- tralia, which already has a Freedom of Information Act, or of Ireland, which has just produced a draft Bill.

Both countries have included clauses giv- ing government ministers the right to exempt certain classes of material from the Freedom of Information provisions in a way that cannot be effectively challenged except on legal technicalities.

Yet supporters of greater government openness in Britain should not abandon hope entirely. Peter Riddell of the Times gave the seminar cause for optimism when he raised the subject of Lunch — coupled with Questions of Procedure for Ministers and Collective Cabinet Responsibility. He pointed out that ministers breach the rules on ministerial procedure every time they talk to journalists about the sayings and doings of other members of the Cabinet. Yet all of them do it regularly — particu- larly when it comes to public spending bat- tles.

Mr Riddell confessed that he would be `startled' if the senior minister he was about to have lunch with did not talk about his colleagues. Indeed, Mr Riddell openly admitted that a minister who failed to name names would not be worth lunching at all.

The truth is that government today is leaking as never before. The past week alone has brought a particularly damaging leak about a ministerial row over whether or not the rights of employees in small companies should be cut back.

The point about the growing number of leaks is that they make it ever harder for ministers or their shadows or senior man- darins to keep Whitehall's secrets secret. One senior civil servant told me this week that technology and vanity were combining to undermine traditional standards of con- fidentiality.

`In the old days, advice to ministers was carbon-copied to a small number of named individuals and it was comparatively easy to keep track of it,' he said. 'Today the size and complexity of the government machine is such that more and more has to be put on computer screens or on paper, where it can be photocopied. That increases vulner- ability to leaks.

`The other factor is the desire to show off. Gossip is enjoyable, and though civil servants are usually too loyal to leak things about their own ministers they don't mind displaying their knowledge about what is going on in another part of the forest.' Mr Freeman and Mr Mandelson may find it harder than they think to quell the new spirit of openness which is not merely abroad in Whitehall but positively out to lunch.

Sue Cameron is a broadcaster who appears regularly on BBC2's Newsnight.

It's a godsend.'