This is the bit that just doesn't add up. The civil service is skilled enough to have a rational approach and wily enough to hide it. The idea that this has just been incompetence is ... bemusing ->
When I read the Withdrawal Agreement, I can see the advantage of going into the backstop but there is also danger, and no mechanism to control getting out. I keep thinking civil service negotiators hid masterful ploys in there, I just can't find them. Maybe, they're that good ...
... so I presume there is actually a bigger play, something no-one is seeing and the weakness in negotiations is just a ploy. I still can't get to grips with the idea that the civil service could actually be incompetent. MPs yes, but that's why we have a civil service.
If this is the case, that the civil service is incapable of negotiating at this level, that the preparations have not been done to what is required ... then frankly, we have no choice but to revoke article 50. The civil service is the safeguard against the incompetence of MPs ...
... if the civil service is not capable of performing that function, then we are in no position to trade on a global scale but must rely on EC. The Gov and Parliament would need to explain that sorry state and face the electorate. The civil service would also need overhauling.
... and I mean complete overhaul. If this was the case, then we need a new civil service fit for purpose. All the perm secs and surrounding layers would have to be considered unfit for purpose, the scale of failure would be colossal. Which is why, I just don't believe it.
It just doesn't add up. This idea of incompetence just doesn't make sense. That's not the civil service I know.
Yes, I can believe MPs messed things up, make impossible demands but then they will do that a lot but that's why we have a civil service.
Yes, I can believe MPs messed things up, make impossible demands but then they will do that a lot but that's why we have a civil service.
So my thoughts turn darker. Maybe that was the political play, 2+ years of continued austerity, throw the civil service to the wolves, let them fail, revoke article 50, blame civil service and a new round of 100,000 civil servants cut. Smaller Gov. Still in EU. Happy Neoliberals.
... could we really being manoeuvred into this? A new round of blame the civil service and huge job cuts - ft.com/content/f06f7c… ... the inevitable they lack experience, not up for the job, brexit could have been grand if only etc. It does make sense of some of the messaging.
... and it would be so easy to pit public against civil service - it was the public fault for voting leave, it was the civil service fault for failing to deliver etc ... you can pile more civil servant cuts, more austerity to "recover from harm caused" on the back of this.
... or alternatively, we can drop the machiavellian ideas and go for something simple - it really is just incompetence across Government and the civil service. They really aren't that good. Hmmm.
... but if you take that route, you have to ask the question whether leaving the EU was ever possible. Well, of course it was and is. Whether UK has the capability to do this is another matter.
So, what can we conclude ... nothing. We have yet to see this game play out, we're in the final stages. Masterful. Clueless or Malevolent - we will just have to find out when we finally arrive ... somewhere.
X : Don't you think the people should get a vote?
Me : Oh no. I don't want Parliament or anyone else punting responsibility for this to the people again - just so there is someone else to blame. Parliament & Gov must make the choice, MPs can face the electorate later.
Me : Oh no. I don't want Parliament or anyone else punting responsibility for this to the people again - just so there is someone else to blame. Parliament & Gov must make the choice, MPs can face the electorate later.
