Politicians often claim secrecy is necessary for good governance or national security.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Secrecy is the foundation of politics.
If governments did not mislead their citizens so often, there would be less need for secrecy, and if leaders knew they could not rely on keeping the public in the dark about what they are doing, they would have a powerful incentive to behave better.
We don't need secrecy.
Secrecy is the first essential in affairs of state.
Secrecy is the first essential in affairs of the State.
I believe good governments have nothing to hide. We want to ensure we maintain confidence in our public institutions.
The government's instinct is to shroud itself in secrecy - to act like the office of a president instead of as a collective cabinet government held to account by the elected House of Commons.
National security laws must protect national security. But they must also protect the public trust and preserve the ability of an informed electorate to hold its government to account.
Secrecy is the freedom tyrants dream of.
It is a universal and fundamental political principle that the power to protect can safely be confided only to those interested in protecting, or their responsible agents - a maxim not less true in private than in public affairs.