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These attacks on civil servants by backbenchers and the press are an absolute disgrace. The insinuation that Sedwill and team are freelancing on a trip to China, working to their own agenda as opposed to serving the elected Govt, is bonkers and undermines how our democracy works
We wrote about this lack of trust between officials and ministers in our recent report. Different context (Brexit, of course) but same problem - and the fact that it’s spreading to national security is deeply worrying 
This was bad enough coming from the tabloids and backbenchers who had never held office; a former Sec of State and the pol editor of the Sunday Times is another level, and shows just how damaged our political system has become, and how hard it will be to fix
Government ministers (particularly the PM) need to come out and say what they are and aren’t allowing officials to do, rather than leaving them to face this kind of criticism undefended - their silence just allows rumours to grow
