Letters: The uncivil service

Uncivil service

Sir: The elephant in the room in the handling of the pandemic (‘A tragedy of errors’, 29 May) is the civil service, which has become the problem in government rather than the solution. Repeated disasters of problem management — from the blood transfusion scandal to Hillsborough to the failures illuminated by Dominic Cummings — reveal an inability to make precise decisions, accept errors and move on. This is especially illustrated by the Home Office which is no longer fit for any purpose. The difficulties encountered by the Windrush people are a case in point. The incompetence and sheer nastiness is breathtaking. It is apparent that we are governed by the civil service as the Chinese are by the Communist party, and the Treasury is the equivalent of the presidium.

Evan Bayton

Moore, Cheshire

Candid Cummings

Sir: It was good to see The Spectator recognising the positive aspects of Dominic Cummings’s select committee appearance. For many years, senior public sector leaders have been calling for greater challenge and candour from their staff. Unfortunately, this rhetoric all too often hits the realities of human nature. Individuals are generally unwilling to criticise those that dispense promotion and reward, and those in charge are often far less receptive to challenge when it does actually arrive. Mr Cummings has given us a shining example of such candour and challenge from someone who was at the very top of government.

Richard List

Crime and punishment

Sir: Had Owen Matthews studied medieval history alongside modern history at Oxford he wouldn’t have written that the West has been trying sanctions since 2012 (‘Bear-baiting’, 29 May). Things were the same in 1548, with 300 western masters and doctors prevented from coming to Ivan the Terrible’s Russia. Four decades ago President Ronald Reagan, like Joe Biden now, tried to stop our pipeline to Europe.