Sir Thomas Dugdale, an unremarkable Conservative member of parliament, reached the pinnacle of his career as minister of agriculture in Winston Churchill’s last government. He resigned in 1954 when an inquiry revealed persistent maladministration by his department in the disposal of land at Crichel Down. The inquiry concluded that he personally knew nothing of the affair, although government papers published 30 years later suggested his hands were less clean, and his civil servants less culpable, than appeared at the time.

The Crichel Down affair was a classic affirmation of the principle of ministerial accountability: ministers are responsible for what happens in their department regardless of whether they authorised it. Sir Thomas acknowledged this doctrine in his resignation speech, saying: “I, as minister, must accept full responsibility for any mistakes and inefficiencies of officials in my department just as, when my officials bring off successes on my behalf, I take full credit for them”.

Arnold Weinstock, for many years chief executive of Britain’s General Electric Company, gave an eloquent exposition of the nature of personal responsibility in business in a letter sent to managers of English Electric when GEC acquired that company in 1968. English Electric was mired in bureaucracy that Weinstock was determined to stamp out.