Letting civil servants obstruct and undermine the democratically elected Government is an insult to the taxpayer

0
66

Civil war

THE civil service is one of those British institutions we are always told is a cut above its foreign equivalents.

Establishment types bleat how lucky we are to have a permanent civil service which has to work with whatever party is in power and turn their noses up at the American system, where government is run by political appointees.

There are some civil servants in Whitehall that have got too puffed up and comfortable to be of use to their country

But the bald truth is that Whitehall is failing.

First, Brexit showed that civil servants are no longer neutral: it became clear weeks after the referendum that they deeply regretted the vote and lacked any enthusiasm for carrying out the instructions of the British public.

Then the HS2 fiasco, where cost estimates were out by 50billion, proved swathes of them are incompetent.

And now MI5 has had to step in because Home Office officials have been bad-mouthing Priti Patel as part of a dirty tricks campaign.

Of course there is some real talent in government departments. But there are also plenty of fatcats who have got too puffed up and comfortable to be of use to their country.

Letting them obstruct and undermine the democratically elected Government while they wait to cash in gold-plated pensions is an insult to the taxpayer.

Floody useless

WE are royally fed up with the pompous Environment Secretary George Eustice popping up on national TV to tell us that flood defences in England are working.

Half of Yorkshire is underwater and thousands of homes and livelihoods have been destroyed

It is crystal clear that they are not: half of Yorkshire is underwater and thousands of homes and livelihoods have been destroyed.

Yes, as Eustice loves to point out, it could have been worse. But given some Brits are bailing raw sewage out of their living rooms, it is safe to say there is room for improvement.

If top scientists are right, climate change means sea levels will keep rising in Europe over the decade.

That doesnt necessarily spell disaster. The Dutch, for example, are well prepared to cope with it.

But it does mean the Government and Environment Agency have no excuse to be faffing around with sandbags.

The time has come to pump serious cash into proper flood defences.

Nice one, Tyson

IN Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, Britain boasts two of the worlds best boxers.

Fury has sealed his comeback with one of the most thrilling wins in boxing history

In 2016 and 2017, Fury briefly flirted with retirement from the sport, amid struggles with injury, depression and a charge from UK Anti-Doping.

Fast forward to 2020, and he has sealed his comeback with one of the most thrilling wins in boxing history.

Now bring on an all-British world title fight to decide whos the greatest!