The last thing they had was clarity of message though.

This would have been easily achieved by transparency in the process.

They were also, rightly or wrongly, seen as actively de-funding work that could be seen to challenge policy objectives. They had ample opportunities to resolve such impressions but chose instead to present an arrogant face. I can't have a lot of sympathy for that.

Even if you aren't actually meddling, if you have the perception that you are, you have a problem.