First para - there's a common denominator with both the Bell and Quayle administrations....the Chief Secretary who, as we all know, is the defacto driver of these things. Collective responsibility makes it so much easier for the executive to manage the apparatus and their political masters (who really aren't their masters at all!).
Second para - I was rather hoping that RC would actually be the transparent one and let us all know what AC did to make it unforgivable.