Simon Jenkins’ statement that if civil servants do not “believe in what they are doing”, they “should go”, is nonsense (We will always need friends in Europe – and diplomats, 5 January). Throughout modern history, the bureaucracy has managed change that was distinctly abhorrent to most of its members, especially if it emanated from the left.
Civil servants, it is alleged, lack the “skill-set” necessary for handling the detail of the Brexit negotiations, but the alternative is far worse. Jenkins states that “wisdom is not fashionable in Europe”, but the trouble is that it is even less fashionable here. Imagine the catastrophic results if negotiations were left to the likes of Johnson, Davis and Fox!
Bernie Evans
Liverpool
• Dan Roberts reports that “there is a growing fear that politicians no longer want to hear bad news” (Fears for principle of impartiality, 5 January). Sadly, fears about the increasing politicisation of the civil service are by no means new: as long as 20 years ago as a policy analyst in the Department of Health, my job was to prepare factual briefings about the state of local healthcare when ministers were interviewing local representatives. Where previously we had been asked for areas of weakness so they could be tackled, we were now told that this was no longer required: “The minister wants good news stories.”
Plus ça change…
Dr Richard Carter
London
• The reaction of most former civil servants, including this one, to the resignation of Sir Ivan Rogers will be dismay. Yet one small light in the gloom is the example he sets, upholding the essential integrity we need from all public servants. Franklin D Roosevelt included “ownership of government by an individual, a group or any controlling authority” as fascism. The clamour from the far right for a fellow traveller to be appointed as Sir Ivan’s replacement is indicative of the direction of travel they want for this country.
Bob Nicholson
Frodsham, Cheshire
• A thousand years ago, on the feast of the Epiphany, 6 January 1017 (or, some say, at Christmas), Cnut was crowned King of all England. He is popularly remembered (as “Canute”) for demonstrating the limits of his power to fawning courtiers by unsuccessfully commanding the sea to retreat. Our prime minister should remember him when surrounding herself with “optimistic” Brexiters, because no amount of positive thinking will save us when we take on the rest of Europe and the tide of economic reality engulfs us.
Rev Geoffrey White
Sheffield
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