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…
Foreign Secretary David Lammy, die-hard Remainer whose fervour eclipses even Starmer’s, is sure to relish his new role as an architect of closer EU ties. Though he might find it tricker to deal with US-UK relations considering his previous vehement anti-Trump views if he reclaims the White House. If co-conspirators hoped that his trusty new SpAds would keep his hardline views in check, they may be disappointed…
Ben Judah, formerly of Europe promoting think-tank Atlantic Council and journalist, has had some choice comments on President Trump over the years. During Trump’s 2016 campaign, he wrote that Trump’s supporters didn’t care about his more controversial background as “Outside DC, where the voters might struggle to place Ukraine on a map or tell the difference between Nafta and Nato… White America can’t always get what it wants”. He later wrote a damning diagnosis of his election in the Guardian:
“Trump’s election was a symptom of a foreign policy paradigm in terminal decline… Trump is, of course, not alone. From Benjamin Netanyahu to Vladimir Putin, rightwing leaders are practicing foreign politics to advance their personal interests”.
Meanwhile, SpAd Will Heilpern will no doubt be an echo-chamber for EU loving Lammy, who called for a People’s Vote on Brexit in order “to save the country from this hard-right Tory fantasy, which was built on xenophobia, lies and a law-breaking campaign”. No wonder he loved Remoaner Corbyn so much:
To be fair to Lammy, at least this time he allowed men into his team, something he famously refused to do as he was “determined to get a woman”. He clearly opted for the ‘surround yourself with yes-men’ approach…
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”
