Who watches the watchmen? That’s the question Whitehall is asking after chief panjandrum and sleazebuster extraordinaire Sue Gray’s was offered the job of Keir Starmer’s chief of staff. The revelation that Gray might not necessarily be quite the bastion of perfect probity has sent shock waves through SW1 – not least in the upper ranks of the senior civil service. Susan Acland-Hood, the permanent secretary at the Department of Education, was so concerned by news of Gray’s appointment on Thursday that she reportedly raised concerns in an online Zoom call with colleagues.
According to the Telegraph, Acland-Hood reminded other officials about their duty to impartiality, concluding with a firm warning that ‘if anybody receives contact from the Leader of the Opposition or a member of the Shadow Cabinet you should tell your permanent secretary right away.’ She reportedly went through the civil service’s code on impartiality line by line, telling colleagues:
You have to act in a way that deserves and retains the confidence of ministers while at the same time ensuring that you will be able to establish the same relationship with those who you may be required to serve in some future government.
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