Civil servants are not expected to run away

Sir, Many of us admire Britain’s longstanding tradition of non-political public service. To work properly, however, the non-political principle must cut both ways. Civil servants should not face replacement by ministers on political grounds. Equally, civil servants should not contemplate departure from office or obstruction of ministers for political reasons. Honouring these principles becomes especially vital to the nation during periods of crisis or acute political tension.

It is therefore deeply disappointing that Sir Ivan Rogers, the UK’s ambassador to the EU, has chosen to stand down at this crucial juncture, especially in a somewhat febrile manner. Like soldiers, civil servants are expected to follow orders from their superiors, not run away. British taxpayers probably do not wish to provide our civil servants with lifetime employment and fat pensions if they can just walk away when the chips are down because they don’t like the way things are going.

Sir Ivan’s departure follows the equally unjustified resignation last year of Lord Hill, EU commissioner for financial services at the time of the EU referendum. In both cases, these senior civil servants seem to have let the nation down at its hour of need. If this pattern persists, ministers may start to feel a need to take over senior appointments to ensure they can rely on their top civil servants when the going gets tough. That would be a great pity and Whitehall would be to blame.

Gregory Shenkman

London W8, UK

Letter in response to this letter:

Lord Hill served the EU / From Michael MacBrien, Brussels, Belgium