The Hutton inquiry in Britain into the recent death of the government's expert on Iraqi weapons, James Kelly, has shown up only too clearly the extent to which our much-vaunted Westminster system of democratic government has decayed. At the inquiry, a BBC reporter was dragged over the coals for a single mistake in his efforts to breach the wall of secrecy around government claims over Iraq. But no one seemed very upset about the much more serious "mistakes" committed by the well-paid, well-informed bureaucrats as they set out to justify a planned act of aggression against a foreign nation.

We take it for granted that politicians lie. As the rather rude saying puts it, the very fact that their lips are moving is often a good indication. But since when were we supposed to assume that the bureaucrats under them are also supposed to lie?

Under the Westminster system, the bureaucrats were supposed to be impartial. It was their job to analyze situations objectively and advise their political masters, without fear or favor.