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

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.

It must be wonderful living in La La land Ug

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

And more of it in the next post, growstuff.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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 !

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.“

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?

MaizieD

^Certain depts though have done their level best to put off work done on policies hoping for a change of Minister etc.^

How do you know that, lemon? Insider information?

Yes ( see my first post on this thread)
I don’t pretend to know a huge deal about the inner workings of the CS so don’t know if replacing Sedwell is a good move or not, but if it’s felt he should go and somebody else would be better in the job then so be it.That happens everywhere.

My younger sister joined the Civil Service back in the '80s.
Before she was accepted she had to show that she had never had any allegiance to any political party.
She never told me much about her work except that she was moved from one dept. to another every few years. eg once on historic buildings, once on prisons, once on education.
She married a Scot and ended up in a high position in the Scottish Office, which I expect is a bit different from the English version.
She's retired now, but still won't talk about her opinions on what's going on there or in England.
Her husband is the same, except he will talk a lot about his work connected to agriculture and fisheries within the EU.

I see the idiot quoted Gramsci.

As I am sure you all know, Frost is close to Dominic Cummings. So anyone who has persuaded themselves that Cummings’s influence has waned may need to re-think. Cummings’s pervasive influence was also manifest in the Ditchley Lecture given by Michael Gove,

So now we have it. The beginning of the politicisation of the civil service.

Robert Peston
@Peston
One of
@BorisJohnson
’s closest allies, David Frost - who has been negotiating the terms of UK’s future relationship with the EU - is to become National Security Adviser, in succession to Sir Mark Sedwill, who is standing down both as cabinet secretary and NSA.