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One of the more disgraceful aspects of the wholly disgraceful horse-meat saga is the alacrity with which everyone has set out to pass the blame to someone else. Accountability is never the most visible quality in a crisis. Like truth in a war, it tends to be an early casualty. But the extent to which so many have sought to appear in charge, while trying to pin responsibility elsewhere – even on penny-pinching consumers foolish enough to trust labels they have every right to trust – has been little short of astounding.