Today’s televised select committee proceedings showed us clearly what had happened in the UK Border Agency. It is typical of what is happening throughout the Civil Service. A massively overpaid “Chief Executive”, Rob Whiteman, is parachuted in on £240,000 a year. He has never had a day’s experience as an immigration officer in his life.

He is placed over Brodie Clark, a man with over 30 years experience, who is head of the Border Force. Whiteman needs to stamp his authority on a force which probably at many levels resents a total outsider being brought in. Was Whiteman, of Barking and Dagenham local council, really that much more capable than all of the thousands of existing Border Force people who actually knows the work? Absolutely anybody could predict Whiteman’s next move – he gets rid of Clark.

He does it by conflating two things. The longstanding fact that at peak times border controls have to be relaxed or airports would overflow in sewerage and planes drop off the sky. And a targeted pilot scheme, that sounds rather sensible, to relax certain controls on certain people to allow better targeting.

Getting rid of Clark necessitates exaggerating the problems, something which an immigrant demonising media is ready to help with. But this causes problems for May as Home Secretary. Not caring about anything but her own career, she reacts by heaping huge loads of manure on Clark’s head.

Whiteman managed, in appearing before a select committee today, to come across as even more horrible than the Murdochs. That you and I are paying his huge salary is appalling. Almost appalling is that the “independent investigation” into what happened is being conducted by John Vine, who was a party to the decision to sack Clark, and a party to some of the correspondence and minutes which Whiteman refused to give the Select Commitee because he was giving it to Vine’s investigation.

Read that last sentence again. Yes, incredible but true. Yet another new low for government whitewash?

This thing stinks.

The government could clear up the issue of Fox Gould and Werritty if it answered these very simple questions. They are questions to which in any real democracy we would be entitled to expect an answer, concerning officials paid by us. I have put these questions to them. Consider why the government refuses to answer these simple and obvious questions.

But the truly terrifying thing is not just that the government refuses to answer these questions from me, it is that the mainstream media refuses even to ask them:

How many times in total did Gould, Werritty and Fox meet?
How many of these are listed in O’Donnell’s official investigation?
Why the discrepancy?

Did the meeting between Fox, Gould and Werritty while Fox was Shadow Defence Secretary follow official rules concerning briefing of opposition front bench spokesmen by officials?
Where did it take place?

When did Gould first meet Werritty?
How many times did Gould meet Werritty without Fox present?
How many communications of all sorts have there ever been between Gould and Werritty?

Where precisely was the “Pre-posting briefing meeting” for Gould with Werritty and Fox held?
Why was it not held in the Secretary of State’s office?
Why was no MOD official present?

Who paid for the “Private dinner” between Fox, Gould and Werritty and “Senior Israelis” in Tel Aviv in February 2011?
Who was present?
Was any note subsequently made of the discussion?

Who paid for the “social engagement” to which Fox invited Gould and Werritty in summer 2010?
Who was present?

Was the possibility of an attack on Iran discussed in any of the above meetings, events or communications?

These really are very simple questions and I will happily report any answer in full. Every media outlet should be asking these questions. Remember Werritty had no security clearance. It is therefore not possible that the answers to these questions is classified information.

If the explanations are innocent, why should these questions not be answered?

ACTION Please send reasoned communications to mainstream media journalists and editors, asking them if they will put these questions to the government. You may also like to contact your MP or any other politician you find reasonable, to ask them whether they are not interested to know the answers.

The answer to these questions would not be hidden in a democracy.

Please post in comments all responses you get, including from journalists.