A career diplomat, Britain’s Brexit counsellor in the US, gives her reasons for resigning

Thanks, how damning!

I speed read the document and am wondering why she chose to publish it now, when it's too late for anything to be done and why in the Texas National Security Review?

We vote for MPs in the hopes that whilst they may not do our bidding we hope that they will represent us to the very best of their abilities. They are in effect our servants in that we pay them.

Her Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as Her Majesty's Civil Service or the Home Civil Service, is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports Her Majesty's Government. They are not employees of Parliament and they are intended to be impartial.

In most circumstances they are able to be impartial but in the case of Brexit it was obviously impossible for many of them to be impartial and there have occasional whistle blowers as MS Hall Hall explained. I think that those who disagreed with Brexit did the country a great disservice by remaining in post and put their own futures before the future of the country.

so you think it was fine for the WM government to expect her to lie for them?

I think she did cover the point of impartiality and the usefulness, or uselessness of resignations, Dinahmo. I presume that you didn't find it convincing? . I think it's a real dilemma for many.

I think that a lot of Leavers were convinced that the civil service was anti Brexit and out to stymie it. All those ridiculous calls to 'drain the swamp' were aimed as much at them as at Remain politicians... Wholesale resignations would have just confirmed their convictions.

paddyann54

so you think it was fine for the WM government to expect her to lie for them?

That's what civil servants have to do, paddyanne Except they, famously, call it 'being economical with the truth'

How would we fare with an overtly partisan civil service?

Civil servants, depending on the department in which they work, will constantly face the dilemma of carrying forward a government policy with which they disagree.

However, it is essential that they carry the government policies forward regardless of their personal feelings or knowledge, because without this government as we know it cannot function.

Governments will always spin their policies and quite frankly it is up to the voting public to decide on these matters not the civil service.

If, however, like Hall, you reach a position that means that you are openly lying to those people that are your employers - in the final analysis of the civil service code - the U.K. public, then imo it is time to revisit the civil service code.

Our democracy cannot function properly if the Executive is lying to the voter, and it would appear that there is ample evidence to suggest this is exactly what is happening when ideologues have control.

Understandable, peddling half truths about Ireland would go down very badly with the Biden government.