Civil servants told to quit if they don’t like Gaza stance

To Whitehall, where Foreign Office staff are kicking up a fuss about the UK government’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict. As the Times reports, last month over 300 civil servants wrote to Foreign Secretary David Lammy to protest the continued arms sales to Israel – blasting it as a ‘disregard for international law’. The mandarins also criticised Israel’s foreign minister’s visit to London that took place ‘despite concerns about violations of international law’ and insisted the Labour lot’s stance had led to ‘the erosion of global norms’. Oo er.

The letter didn’t much impress permanent secretary Sir Oliver Robbins and his deputy Nick Dyer. Responding, the duo stated it was in the civil servant job description to enact government policy ‘wholeheartedly’ – even if they disagreed with it. While there exist mechanisms in place for staffers to challenge policy they didn’t like, the pair said that if that didn’t work then mandarins should leave.