Ponderous ex-David Lammy SpAd Ben Judah has alleged that civil servants are always leaking and are a problem in and of themselves. Always entertaining when special advisers are unmuzzled…
Judah left Lammy’s team very recently in a SpAd shake-up over at the MoJ. He responded to former Cabinet Secretary Gus O’Donnell holding the Prime Minister accountable for the recent briefing war:
“I am sure Lord O’Donnell speaks from personal conviction about another time, but my experience, across two very different departments in government, was that large numbers of civil servants themselves are constantly leaking and gratuitously briefing.
It’s not even political — it has become a way of life. Let’s be clear. It’s not an “us” versus “them” issue between civil servants and politicals. There is a toxic briefing culture on both sides in Whitehall.
The Permanent Secretaries and the politicians need to work together to stamp out this behaviour that comes from a sense of untraceability and impunity. That means leak inquiries with teeth as standard and yes, people getting fired.”
Labour people are inching towards the conclusion that political appointments are needed to shore up the system. Judah gets half-way then goes for the ‘let’s do more leak inquiries’ option which always fails by nature…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”