Letter: Secrets can be worse than lies

ALAN WATKINS'S political commentary ('Nice move, John, but you reckoned without the judge', 6 March) hit the nail on the head: I have little or no interest in whether ministers are totally honest in their statements in the House. We are capable of understanding the implications of woolly answers and non-answers. After all, we get plenty of practice, and we all know that there are times when such replies are vital.

What really worries me is the equanimity with which ministers have reported their varying degrees of readiness to conspire in sending innocent Matrix Churchill directors to jail as a consequence of their perceived need to cover up their own wrongdoings. The Opposition doesn't seem to understand that concern either. After reading the responses the ministers gave to Mr Justice Scott, I look forward to further fencing to justify their continuation in office after the publication of the Scott report.

F G Everest

Stevenage, Herts