Home Office civil servants are threatening to strike over the government’s Rwanda deportation policy, with the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union claiming they are “going to have to consider” walkouts if members are “forced” to implement policies they consider unlawful. PCS ‘Head of Bargaining’ Paul O’Connor spoke on behalf of his fellow unelected bureaucrats this morning:

“If the Government carry on in the way they have, we are going to have to consider an industrial response to it. We have taken a view that it cannot go on. The hostile environment has got to be dismantled. It is just not working. It is not an effective immigration system. Our members are at the sharp end of this day in, day out and have to work in horrendous conditions. There will be no stomach amongst our members for implementing the Rwanda deal and Illegal Migration Bill, and they will inevitably come to their trade union to see if there is recourse to stop it happening.”

This is yet another instance of jumped-up civil servants going rogue on policy. Last year, Guido reported similar threats under Priti Patel, with Home Office staff claiming the Rwanda policy was affecting their mental health and some felt they had some kind of moral duty to speak out against the elected politicians who actually have a democratic mandate. A government source tells Guido they expect most of this is, as usual, coming from the lower-ranking staff who’re worried how they’ll explain themselves to their friends at dinner parties:

“I think that at senior levels of the home office civil servants understand the system is broken and are working hard to make it possible […] I suspect that is a low/middle ranking bureaucrats mouthing off…”

Of course, with the Home Office half-empty most of the time, will anyone even notice?