Labour starts power handover talks with civil servants
Labour has started handover talks with civil servants in preparation for a potential change of government.
The party confirmed that shadow cabinet teams will begin discussions with Whitehall officials to ensure a smooth transfer of power should Sir Keir Starmer win the next election.
The meetings are an opportunity for Labour to discuss its plans for government and establish relationships with senior mandarins in order to minimise teething problems in the event of a change of government.
Quiet little stories such as this highlight what an uphill job worthwhile political change has become.
It is clear enough that both parties to these discussions feel able to assume that voting behaviour is sufficiently predictable for the meetings to be worthwhile. At the moment, and even though Labour is obviously not a worthwhile alternative to the Conservatives, genuine change is not a nettle most voters seem prepared to grasp.
Yet another clue to impending disaster.
4 comments:
I understood that such discussions between the Official Opposition and the Civil Service are usual in the run up to a General Election. Since there will certainly be an election in less than a year from now, the timing is uncontroversial. It would be more worrying if they didn't happen.
Think what a mess was made of the transitions from Obama to Trump and from Trump to Biden where the process relied on cooperation between political antagonists.
decnine - it seems early but maybe that's because the election could be quite soon. Problems seem to arise when the permanent administration has its own political outlook while knowing it will outlast whatever political party gains power. That seems to be more common than it was, but maybe it always has been so.
I thought at first of the humorous possibilities inherent in a scenario beginning "Sir Humphrey, allow me to introduce Ms Rayner..."
But in reality, his modern counterpart is likely to be far more left wing than Angie. He will be an old-school cultural Marxist who has taken the diplomatic and bureaucratic path to power, rather than emulating the gobby barmaid.
Sam - yes he/she is likely to be far more left wing than Angie. Maybe that explains the early meetings, to see if Labour is sufficiently extreme to push on with current policies.
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