A civil servants view of what is happening to our country

A long read curtesy of the Guardian.

Prorogation is actually not a bad word for helping to describe the casual cruelty with which our political biosphere is being systematically gaslighted.

Like the moral fabric of any self-respecting cabinet minister, this word is exceedingly flexible. It can be a noun when describing Boris Johnson’s evolution from bumbling amateur to bumbling pro rogue. It can be an adjective, too. As in, do you think people like Dominic Cummings should be the heart of government? “Why yes, I’m actually pro-rogue.”

I’m one of the thousands of Yellowhammered civil servants working on no-deal preparations who had to prorogue their disbelief this week. We congregated around the screens of colleagues – subconsciously huddling together like emperor penguins – as we followed Twitter and various live-feeds reporting that Johnson had actually done what he repeatedly said he didn’t want to do, what many of his inner sanctum insisted he would never do, and what his legal team repeatedly assured Gina Miller he certainly didn’t intend to do.

None of us is in any doubt about what’s just happened. This shutting down of accountability may be dressed up in the language of prorogation, and dignified by arcane royal pageantry. But it can’t disguise the smirking, smug sense of reckless entitlement that stinks of the worst kind of Bullingdon Club blowout. This is constitutional vandalism, and everyone knows it.

Yes, yes, we’ve all got outrage fatigue. But I’ve genuinely never seen my colleagues so dismayed, so angry and – somehow worst of all – so disorientated. And after already enduring two rounds of Yellowhammer, that’s saying something. What’s going on?

There is a well-established line of accountability that connects us with the public, and it’s being rubbed out at the worst possible time
First, the prorogation crisis, the ascendance of Bozzymandias and the existential meteorite of no-deal Brexit have combined to hammer civil service morale, making us less resilient at every level. Those at the top, like HMRC’s Jon Thompson and the no-deal planning wunderkind Tom Shinner, have the luxury of leaving to go to less volatile public sector jobs or into the private sector. Those in the middle, like me, are wondering whether the Brexit clusterbùrach can be cleared up by the time we retire. Those at the bottom are wondering what sort of contractual hell awaits them if Brexit’s dark Gandalf gets his shot to remake government.

Second, the mood inside the civil service has changed, particularly here at the heart of no-deal planning operations. We feel like we’ve been betrayed, not just as demoralised workers trying to complete a Sisyphean task but as citizens too. Civil servants aren’t elected, but there is a well-established line of accountability that connects us with the public, and it’s being rubbed out at the worst possible time

As the redoubtable Hilary Benn tweeted, if parliament’s doors are closed select committees won’t be able to meet to hold our ministers’ feet to the fire on how they’re spending no-deal billions. Members of parliament won’t be able to submit parliamentary questions about exactly what we’re doing with those billions. That’s a horrid precedent which isn’t good for the civil service in the long run. And it’s certainly not good for you, the public.

‘We’re not bothered by protesters – most of us have had to run the gauntlet past hi-vis caballeros of every stripe and persuasion just to get to work.’ Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/REX/Shutterstock
Third, we feel exposed to a damaging tsunami of blame that is surely around the corner. Civil servants can handle a bit of aggro – either from pissed-off ministers or members of the public. We’ve grown used to the Sturm und Drang of Brexit. We’re not bothered by protesters – most of us have had to run the gauntlet past hi-vis caballeros of every stripe and persuasion just to get to work.

But what is new is the open question of whether we can, or should, obey ministerial instructions to facilitate a no-deal Brexit. Many of us were shocked to hear Bob Kerslake, until 2014 the head of the civil service, suggest that civil servants should “examine their consciences” and consider “putting its stewardship of the country ahead of service to the government”.

Only one person can avert a no-deal Brexit. And that’s Boris Johnson

That’s unprecedented. It’s one thing to hear senior civil servants – unsure if they can do their jobs properly without parliamentary assent – openly wonder if they’d be better off joining the protesters outside. But it’s quite another for an ex-civil service chief to imply they should be able to choose which policies to implement. As I said back in March, as civil servants we must not do that – now least of all – or we will never be trusted ever again. I’m glad that union bosses were quick to slap Lord Kerslake down.

What’s next? Some MPs – like Lloyd Russell-Moyle – are calling for a general strike. Most senior union figures will be rightfully fearful of proposing this, wary that this option too would risk the public’s wrath.

I agree. A rogue prime minister is bad enough. A rogue civil service won’t have a hope of keeping Britain’s lights on if the reanimated corpse of no deal strikes this Halloween. And heaven help us then.

• The civil servant works in a Whitehall department and was part of Operation Yellowhammer