Darth Venal said:

Removing his meeting with Sidious is one of the stupidest things I've heard so far. This isn't directed at everyone, by the way, but to those I've been debating this with. Do you have any idea about character? About script writing? Because it seems not. Suggestions about making his character even more nebulous - sorry, mysterious - and pages of debate about repainting a light sabre... what?!

I think removing that meeting not only isn't stupid, but is crucial. A big problem with the prequels is that they spell everything out for the viewer. We know in AOTC (due to both Jango Fett and this meeting) that both warring sides are controlled by the same people, making Palpatine revealing himself in the next film as a Sith completely and utterly unsurprising.