Top civil servant, Sir Mark Sedwell, is to be dismissed tomorrow.

News report that he (Sedwell) is going mostly because he 'crossed swords' on more than one occasion with Cummings. Isn't that how dictatorships operate?

Cummings gave a speech yesterday delivered by Gove.

“Michael Gove’s speech yesterday seems to be a platform for putting the boot into the Civil Service, making politically motivated changes to gov’t depts and even more centralisation of power. This is an agenda for undermining the machinery of gov’t, not constructive reform.“

It’s more than that trisher and stems from long before Cummings went to work in Number Ten.No doubt though, that crossing swords with Cummings put the tin lid on it.

Nicholas Guyatt a history professor at Cambridge has analysed the speech which purported to be based on FDRs speech he gave in the 30s.

Cummings/Gove claiming that we gave the same existential crises of government we faced in the 30s.

Guyatt shreds the speech paragraph by paragraph.

I fear nevertheless that Cummings will get his way.

The role and job description is being restructured. It's not a question of Sedwill being replaced by somebody better.

Cummings and Gove have been close allies since Cummings was Gove's SpAd at the DfE. I have long had a suspicion that Gove has been pulling strings. This is very much Gove's style and what he was doing when he was Education Secretary. That's why Cameron sacked him.

Whitewavemark2

Cummings gave a speech yesterday delivered by Gove.

“Michael Gove’s speech yesterday seems to be a platform for putting the boot into the Civil Service, making politically motivated changes to gov’t depts and even more centralisation of power. This is an agenda for undermining the machinery of gov’t, not constructive reform.“

I agree. It's extremely worrying.

Good news as far as I’m concerned. He was the architect of May's attempted con sell out to keep us in the EU. She promoted him. And Ollie Robbins was his bag carrier. This is all about delivering Brexit. Get behind it or move aside people.

We voted for Brexit (those who bothered to turn out anyway) and it’s time to deliver it. No more obstacles. We had enough of that when Mrs May went over to Brussels with him advising her.

Ramblingrose22

Oh - I see that Firecracker123 hasn't come back yet with an outline of what is bad in the civil service and what the reforms should be.

I was so looking forward to hearing more.

Come on Firecracker123 - don't be shy. You've made an assertion - now back it up with evidence and let us know what needs to be done, starting with Sir Mark Sedwill.

After all , if ever there was a disobedient civil servant he must be one!

Me too !

Urmstongran

Good news as far as I’m concerned. He was the architect of May's attempted con sell out to keep us in the EU. She promoted him. And Ollie Robbins was his bag carrier. This is all about delivering Brexit. Get behind it or move aside people.

We voted for Brexit (those who bothered to turn out anyway) and it’s time to deliver it. No more obstacles. We had enough of that when Mrs May went over to Brussels with him advising her.

What a load of ...! Sorry, but that really does take the biscuit!

It must be clearly understood that these top-level Civil Servants really do believe that they are in charge. Just look at the way the Home Office tried - and is still trying - to shiow Pritti Patel who's boss.

With an 80-seat majority and a GE some years off, the present government is in a good position to wield the axe - and should not hesitate to do so.

There'll be trouble with Tony Blair's Supreme Court, to whom the said Civil Servants will fly as soon as their jobs are threatened, but Boris and his cohorts should be able to get the better of their enemies without too much trouble.

You seem to be missing a salient point, Ug. Brexit is done. We've left the EU. It cannot now be reversed.

So why you are continually posting as though some devious agents are trying to stop it is a mystery to me.

Whitewavemark2

I suspect that Cummings has a list in front of him of all those civil servants who have in any way criticised him and will get rid of them

This “reform” will amount to nothing more than that.

Oh yes.

Anyone on Cummings hit list will be for the guillotine.

Civil servants are there to carry out the wishes of the government of the day of whichever persuasion, but also are steadying influence.

They should never be dismissed because they disagree with a SPAD.

This is a grave development and very sinister.

What a load of ...! Sorry, but that really does take the biscuit!

And more of it in the next post, growstuff.

And I think David Frost deserves that job he has done well. Not letting the EU pull the wool over the governments eyes. sounds like all negotiations will be over by September.

He’s apparently known as ‘the details man the details men go to’. A very clever team player.

Brexit isn’t done. Yes it’s been agreed to (finally those who voted against it have had to believe it) but negotiations are taking place. David Frost is a force to be reckoned with as Michel Barnier has come to realise.

I'm sorry, Ug, you appear to be becoming a little delusional.

We have left the EU. We left the EU on 31st December 2019. What you voted for has come to pass. It's over. We're out.

Negotiations are on a possible trade agreement. That has nothing to do with Brexit, apart from the fact that, having committed the monumentally stupid act of breaking with our main trading partner and losing the most advantageous terms of trade we would ever get with 27 European countries, we now have to scrabble for the crumbs that they might offer us.

I’ll believe we’ve left when we finally have. The EU would still love us to extend the transition period. So far Boris has stuck to his word and isn’t for extending, good man.

I don’t think we will just get crumbs either.

It must be wonderful living in La La land Ug

It is thank you. I think I’m a happy bunny.
?

I think we should congratulate Boris for this decisive action. It is because of Sedwill's treachery over the plot in extending the trade talks, all done while the PM was fighting for his life in a London hospital. Had the plot not been rumbled by Dominic Cummings, the Remainer, head civil servant would have got his way.

However, it was how he reacted to it that spoke volumes. Sir Mark, then went on an all out attack on the PM's aide by trying to discredit him with the Durham lockdown farce, in an attempt to oust his arch nemesis, handing himself back the power he had got much too comfortable with in Cabinet.

When Sir Philip Rutnam lost his post at the Home Office because he tried precisely the same ruse with the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, by accusing her of bullying, it was said Sir Mark was livid.

This was the joined up writing on the wall; the PM will always stand by those in the right, and can see through those ploys that are nothing more than witch hunts.

It is now time for the Civil Service reforms we have all been waiting for, and they cannot come soon enough.

Effectively, we have left now
The Cabinet has been especially chosen to make sure that we do leave ; they stand to make a lot of money from this, short selling
We will almost certainly be crashing out without a deal
Please be under no illusions that this will be of benefit to any ordinary citizens, who don't have gazillions to invest and have been sold down the river, or indeed, thrown under the proverbial bus, with lies written on it

We will have to agree to disagree Dollymae

mc2 sorry

Interesting article written in August 2019 about what was already beginning to happen in the civil service. This was before the last election, so at a time when Johnson didn't have a commanding majority.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/01/boris-johnson-dominic-cummings-whitehall-democracy-civil-servants

This is about centralising power in a very few hands, excluding checks and balances provided by elected MPs. We saw today that senior civil servants will be political appointments. The next in line for the chop is the judiciary. If the small band with power don't like the law, they'll just change it.

This