Recently, the papers have been full of stories about civil servants accepting 'freebies'.

Allegedly, there's nothing a top mandarin likes more than to be wined and dined at a posh restaurant, or to be taken to see a Wimbledon final.

Hogwash.

My experience, in the four years or so that I've been wielding a company credit card, is that civil servants are among the most reticent in accepting hospitality, precisely because they have to record it.

You can just about manage to buy them a cup of coffee, but lunch invitations to a local bistro can incite heart palpitations: is this the first step on the road to a Faustian contract?

Every culture but ours understands that eating together doesn't buy influence, it simply builds relationships, which is good for both parties.

Scaremongering non-stories like this will make civil servants even more likely to refuse hospitality, and the chance to improve those relationships will be lost.

When JOURNALISTS are offered hospitality, on the other hand...

• Blog