Andrew Gilligan opines on the recent problems encountered by Michael Gove.
In a Commons appearance of 28 minutes, Mr Gove used the word “apologise”, or variants thereof, 24 times, after repeatedly giving the wrong information about which school rebuilding projects are to be axed. At that stage, however, we were still only on the third correction to the minister’s list of schools. By the time that he was forced to issue his fifth corrected version, it seemed likely that something more than simple incompetence was afoot.
At the time my antennae twitched, as I suspected much the same. This had Humphrey Appleby style sabotage written all over it. Sure, I don’t rule out incompetence, but it was all just a little too convenient, given that this came from a quango facing the axe.
Ministers in the new government began by worrying about the Lib Dem back benches, the Tory back benches, the grassroots, the public. But the question some of them now ask is: are we being sabotaged by the Civil Service?
I’d say highly likely, as Gilligan points out later in the piece, the public sector mushroomed during Labour’s tenure:
To ministers, however, it is far from clear that the 18-fold growth of the Cabinet Office since 1997 has made Britain 18 times better governed.
It hasn’t, of course. What we have seen is a burgeoning state sector that thinks it knows best and is hardly likely to readily agree to having its wings clipped anytime soon. So the briefings, “incompetence” and leaks will be used to undermine any budget cuts.
Governments are elected and may be removed by their electors. Civil servants remain, unelected and to us, unaccountable. They are neither civil, nor servants.
Whitehall sincerely thinks that it is one of the best things about Britain. I have always believed that its self-regard is totally unjustified.
Absolutely.
I’ve been away while this was going on and unable to comment, however these were also my thoughts when I heard the story. However, I wouldn’t rule out incompetence either. After 13 years of Labour its obvious our civil service has become fat and bloated and, to use a phrase, unfit for purpose.