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Article: Leading Article: Mr Blair's chief spin doctor should be paid for by the Labour Party
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- April 21, 2000
CopyrightCopyright 2000 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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SIR RICHARD Wilson, the head of the Home Civil Service, was once
taken aside by an irate Conservative who urged him to do something
about the disgraceful way in which the Labour Government was
politicising the civil service. In what way? asked the mandarin. His
complainant protested that civil servants were being suborned into
carrying out Labour Party policy. But that, said Sir Richard gently,
is what the civil service is for.
Much of the indignation about New Labour perverting Britain's fine
tradition of a politically-neutral civil service, or employing an
army of political appointees at the taxpayers' expense, is either
phony or poorly considered.
A similar reaction is likely to greet ...