The Scott Inquiry: How I Learned to Love the Black Marker

There are periods in one’s civil service career that, when pressed, you simply describe as "administrative fog." Not because you’re hiding anything (though you probably are), but because even in hindsight, you’re still not sure what room you were in—or whether the door behind you actually led anywhere.

The arms-to-Iraq scandal—later perfumed as “The Scot…