It is really heartening (if that’s the right word) to see a New Statesman contributor taking this view seriously.
There is a bit of a realignment happening — maybe the only relevant question now is whether we continue as before or take seriously the task of remaking our government. You might enjoy some of the ideas in https://anglofuturism.substack.com.
Hi Harry. Yes, most of Dom's criticisms are valid but need to be read with two major warnings in mind.
1. He isn't just criticising the civil service. He (quite rightly) despairs of almost every element of our government/constitution. Ian Dunt (in his recent book) says much the same apart (if I remember rightly) from excusing the judiciary from his criticisms.
2. Dom's only solution was to sack everyone he criticises (Ministers, Spads) or to seek, himself, to control the Prime Minister. He wasn't (and still isn't) prepared clearly to analyse why we ended up in this mess, nor to describe his vision of what should replace Cabinet government and the current invisibility and absence of accountability of officials.
I and others have written extensively about these issues. One place to start might be my 4 August 23 Substack. You could also look at the Civil Service Reform pages on my website (https://www.civilservant.org.uk/) and the depressingly long list of civil service reform reports in its library (https://www.civilservant.org.uk/library.html). But none of those reports, or Dom's rants, have brought about any significant change in the arrangements that were introduced by Haldane in 1919, so the problem is clearly very deep seated and needs to be tackled accordingly.
It is really heartening (if that’s the right word) to see a New Statesman contributor taking this view seriously.
There is a bit of a realignment happening — maybe the only relevant question now is whether we continue as before or take seriously the task of remaking our government. You might enjoy some of the ideas in https://anglofuturism.substack.com.
Look forward to reading more from you.
Hi Harry. Yes, most of Dom's criticisms are valid but need to be read with two major warnings in mind.
1. He isn't just criticising the civil service. He (quite rightly) despairs of almost every element of our government/constitution. Ian Dunt (in his recent book) says much the same apart (if I remember rightly) from excusing the judiciary from his criticisms.
2. Dom's only solution was to sack everyone he criticises (Ministers, Spads) or to seek, himself, to control the Prime Minister. He wasn't (and still isn't) prepared clearly to analyse why we ended up in this mess, nor to describe his vision of what should replace Cabinet government and the current invisibility and absence of accountability of officials.
I and others have written extensively about these issues. One place to start might be my 4 August 23 Substack. You could also look at the Civil Service Reform pages on my website (https://www.civilservant.org.uk/) and the depressingly long list of civil service reform reports in its library (https://www.civilservant.org.uk/library.html). But none of those reports, or Dom's rants, have brought about any significant change in the arrangements that were introduced by Haldane in 1919, so the problem is clearly very deep seated and needs to be tackled accordingly.