Harry Enfield had a character in his sketch show in the 90s called George Whitebread. He was a plain-speaking Yorkshireman, placed in a series of unlikely scenarios like an advertising agency’s creative meeting or a therapy session. He would crassly insult everyone, making matters worse, and excusing himself by using his catchphrase “say what I like and like what I bloody well say”. It was the 90s so every character was compelled to have a catchphrase.
This week we witnessed the Conservatives’ very own George Whitebread’s latest utterings. As I was heading home on Tuesday afternoon my phone went wild as all and sundry contacted me, almost in disbelief, over Kemi Badenoch’s comments about the civil service in a Spectator fringe event at the Conservative Party conference.
At first, I was relying on a tweet a journalist had posted: “Badenoch says 10% of civil servants are magnificent but 5-10% are very bad, like should be in prison bad.”
My initial thought was she was repeating the tropes of so many ministers in the past who damn the civil service with faint praise – “some brilliant people” – but then go on to lambast the rest as a feckless bunch who are guaranteed a job for life.
In response, I was about to deploy one of my favourite GIFs, Ron Burgundy’s “stay classy”, when I was saw the full quote in a clip from ITV. It’s worth a watch as you get the full sensory experience. In it she says:
“It is not all civil servants, I don’t want people to get me wrong.”
Classic George Whitebread intro as he’s about to insult everyone.
“I think civil servants are like everybody else, they come in to do a job and I’d say about 10% of them are absolutely magnificent, and the trick to being a good minister is to find the good ones quickly and bring them close and try and get the bad ones out of your department as quickly as possible. There’s about 5-10% of them who are very, very bad, you know, should be in prison bad…”
Cue laughter from the audience.
“…leaking official secrets, undermining ministers, agitating. I had some of it in my department. Usually union led.”
Thanks for the H/T Kemi.
“Most of them want to do a good job and the good ones are frustrated by the bad ones.”
Now, before I get accused of being po-faced, I don’t actually think she was suggesting they should go to prison, though the leaking of official secrets bit could be interpreted that way. I’ll forgive her for just having a poor sense of humour that’s attuned to a Spectator audience rather than normal people. And indeed, her “people” apparently responded later with the “she was only joking” defence – again, classic Whitebread.
Firstly, Badenoch, and a slew of ministers before her, have created an environment where civil servants are routinely scapegoated for their own failures of policy and, more often than not, knowingly used as red meat to throw at a base of supporters who buy into the ‘deep state’ and ‘blob’ narratives. Hence the laughter at her comments. It’s irresponsible because not only do they know that civil servants can’t defend themselves, but they are deliberately undermining confidence in government to suit their own personal ambitions.
She’s pitching herself as the “say it like it is” candidate for leader and this is just one example of that. She courts controversy to provoke headlines, and she certainly got them over the course of the conference. But she is standing for leader of one of the most successful political parties in history. She presumably would want to become prime minister, yet here she is, a few months out of office, trashing the civil service as a bunch of fifth columnists trying to undermine elected ministers.
My response was to call for her to back up her claims. No suitable GIF available for that. If it’s 5-10% of civil servants she’s dealt with, there must be countless examples. Provide some evidence or withdraw. I did so because truth is supposed to matter, and if you’re running to be leader of a political party with ambitions to lead the country, you have a responsibility to be truthful. Is this what leadership means to her, get the clicks and deal with the consequences later? It’s classic Boris Johnson playbook, never mind Whitebread.
We can all say things. So, hypothetically, I might say about 10% of politicians are good, like should be secretary of state good, but there’s another 10% who are such self-absorbed, talentless click-baiters that they create a toxic environment around them. For them it’s not actually about delivering for the public, it’s all about their egos and leadership ambitions. Hypothetically, of course. Saying something that’s controversial isn’t a strength, anyone can do that. Communicating complex issues in a way that’s digestible and thoughtful, is.
It was welcome to hear one of her rivals address it head on. James Cleverly said over the last week that “bad officers blame their soldiers and bad ministers blame their civil servants”. Cleverly, when he took over the Home Office, told civil servants “I will back you and I will defend you. Even when you mess up. I have no intention of throwing you under the bus. I have no intention of briefing against officials”. I can’t imagine who he was thinking of.
I have no preferred candidate for the Conservative Party leadership election, it’s not my decision to make, but it is a leadership race, and leadership should matter.
Dave Penman is general secretary of the FDA union