When it comes to the row over Suella Braverman, which has dominated the first week of Rishi Sunak’s premiership, all is not what it seems.
It was originally about leaking, and the Home Secretary’s transmission of restricted documents using her personal email address. Yet the officials gunning for her over that are themselves leaking an awful lot of information to the press which is not obviously any less sensitive – and those papers demanding her resignation are cheerfully printing it.
Instead, many of the attacks now emanating from the Home Office focus less on process than on matters which seem straightforwardly political. We learn that officials don’t like her holding meetings with right-wing Conservative MPs, and that she has been commissioning policies which would see a more hard-line approach taken towards Channel crossings.
It's a short piece, but worth reading as a reminder that officials do try to restrict the political conduct of government in favour of their own processes.
Sunak won’t relish having a senior minister attracting so much flak so early in his premiership, but he should make a clear distinction between fair criticism and ideologically motivated attacks. Otherwise he risks setting a precedent that gives over-mighty officials more opportunities to try and restrict the proper conduct of political government.
5 comments:
If the disgusting immoral creatures of the press do not like Suella, that probably means she's doing the right things, maybe even vaguely conservative things. Hooray!
About 15 years ago, even ex- communist John Reid said that the Home Office was " not fit for purpose". A reforming Home Secretary meets with very determined resistance from staff, who all seem to be either woke, indolent, or WFH.
How everyone laughed at "Yes Minister": British comedy gold, etc. It's not really an amusing situation in real life, though. We pay for these idiots, and the damage they do is incalculable.
One could almost ascertain that power has passed from Parliament to the Civil Service. Sort of like....oh I don't know....a deep state?
Yes Sam, we've just been watching the third series of 'Yes Minister', and the dialogue could easily apply to the goings-on with the MSM and the awful BBC.
Maybe the new Culture Secretary will be able to use this to knock the licence fee on the head as well!
I'm beginning to think that Ms Braverman is beginning to enjoy this!
Ed - I'm sure you are right, the disgusting immoral creatures don't like her and yes, that must mean she is doing something right.
Sam - it's a pity that "Yes Minister" was a comedy because it blunted our perspective of the damage they do. Almost suspicious in the way it effectively played down the serious nature of the subject. Not a conspiracy, but something amusingly useful which emerged from certain superior attitudes.
Tammly - yes, "deep state" is a useful term, as is "swamp".
Scrobs - I hope she enjoys it. A healthy attitude.
Post a Comment