Damien McBride - legal fees

Now here's an odd response from Francis Maude.

Mr Nuttall: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Ruislip, Northwood of 12 October 2009, Official Report, column 409W, on public relations, whether any funds from the public purse were spent on legal fees in relation to the incident involving Mr Damian McBride, the Red Rag website and associated emails.

Mr Maude [holding answer 14 March 2011]: This Government are not accountable for the decisions and actions of the previous Government.

Now, the reason I say it's odd is because if the answer is zero then why not just say it, and if the answer is not zero, then why not just say how much it was so' to have a pop at Labour?