WHITEHALL BLUES
incompetent and secretive
WHITEHALL'S storytellers are at it again. When their spirits are low, they have a regrettable tendency to indulge in their very own version of Cinderella, wherein a bunch of civil service rats are turned into political footmen and forced to go to the aid of the party.
The story tends to remain the same no matter which particular party is in power. The key point is that when the same group of politicians has been in office for many years, rumours start to circulate about how the traditional impartiality and integrity of the British civil service is being under- mined. Tales of the present Tory regime's malign influence on Whitehall first sur- faced a dozen years ago, and they have been cropping up in heavily embroidered guises ever since.
The latest version featured prominently in the Observer (14 April). Based on an ICM poll of 1,911 civil servants, all trade union members, it suggests that a majority of officials believe Whitehall is no longer politically impartial. An even higher pro- portion of those surveyed — 73 per cent believe Conservative ideology has become part of civil service culture during the last 17 years of one-party government. The survey found that morale is low among the vast majority of civil servants polled. Over two thirds also felt insecure about their jobs — hardly surprising, given that civil service numbers have been cut by over 30 per cent since the Tories came to power in 1979.
What is surprising is that some of these hoary myths about civil service politicisa- tion are still being given currency. What is distressing is that the myths help to obscure some of the real causes for con- cern in modern Whitehall.
The conclusions drawn from the survey do not stand up, even on its own findings. Although 73 per cent believed Conserva- tive ideology had become part of civil ser- vice culture, only 41 per cent believed Whitehall's culture would be hostile to an incoming Labour government. And a thumping 77 per cent said they would wel- come a change of government.
So whichever wicked fairy has been try- ing to turn civil servants into Thatcher clones ought to be given the push. (No, dear, we're not going to guess the Chief Fairy's name and no, she didn't have a magic handbag instead of a wand.) Far from having the desired effect, her spell seems to have turned a myriad mandarins into Labour supporters. Except that those polled were not mandarins. Those who took part in the survey belong to the Insti- tution of Professionals, Managers and Specialists and the Public Services, Tax and Commerce Union, which represent middle- and lower-grade civil servants. The First Division Association, which rep- resents Whitehall's upper echelons — the policy advisers — were not polled.
Yet it is among the policy advisers, rather than the bureaucratic hewers of wood and drawers of water, that politicisa- tion really matters. The fact is that most lower-ranking officials have little to do with ministers. They are simply not in the frame when it comes to claims that civil servants have taken on the mindsets of Tory ministers, that they only tell the politicians what they want to hear, or that they dare not say no to their masters. (No, dear, civil servants never run for office. What dear? Yes, we all saw the Evening Standard full-page profile of Hayden Phillips, the Permanent Secretary at National Heritage, but we don't talk about it, dear, because we don't want to seem vulgar, do we?) But regardless of who took part in the ICM survey, is there any general evidence to back up claims that British mandarins are more politicised today than they were once upon a time? Take the notion that after 17 years of Tory rule civil servants have acquired a can-do mentality. Critics say this approach allows mandarins to dis- cuss how to implement government policy, but precludes them from arguing about basic principles with ministers.
What the critics seem in danger of for- getting is that the classic role of the civil servant is to carry out the wishes of minis- ters. It is not for the mandarin to foist his own policy ideas on elected politicians. Or rather, he may — indeed will — try it on, but he has no business to complain if min- isters insist on having their own way or if they prefer to have about them mandarins who help rather than hinder government policy aims. Civil servants who press Tory ministers to agree to renationalisation or huge tax rises are wasting everyone's time — including their own.
Come to think of it, they will be on even more of a fool's errand if they try to per- suade New Labour to buy back privatised companies or push average taxes through the roof. Civil servants may or may not have taken on a Conservative mindset, but it is absolutely certain that New Labour has.
And surely nobody can imagine that a New Labour government would encourage civil servants to start saying no to ministers. Anyone who watched New Labour publicly humiliating shadow Cabinet member Clare Short for saying she personally ought to pay higher taxes must realise that Sir Humphrey's only hope will be to say, 'Yes, minister' at every possible opportunity.
Any idea that an incoming Labour gov- ernment would need to be wary of 'Tory' mandarins would exactly mirror Thatcherite fears about socialist officials back in 1979. When Mrs Thatcher came into power, the deputy press secretary at No. 10 — the deputy, mind — was sent on extended gardening leave lest he under- mine the new Conservative government.
The truth is that to suggest the civil ser- vice has been imbued with Conservatism which is what the critics mean when they talk of politicisation — is nonsense. Yet such fairy stories tend to distract attention from some of the real causes of concern in Whitehall, such as civil service incompe- tence and civil service contempt for Parlia- ment — both underlined by the Scott report on exports to Iraq. Undue secrecy remains a problem, a problem highlighted by the efforts of Sir Robin Butler, the Cab- inet Secretary, to stop civil servants reply- ing to the Observer/ICM poll. Divisions of responsibility between ministers and agen- cy chief executives also provide cause for disquiet.
But the sad truth is that the problems will remain under Labour.
Sue Cameron is a broadcaster who appears on BBC 2's Newsnight. She writes regularly on Whitehall for The Spectator.
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