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George Peretz QC Profile picture
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15 Jun, 10 tweets, 3 min read
This would be a good quote for an exam question: are ministers more like bosses, or clients, of the civil service?
A good answer would focus on the civil service code and on Part 1 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.
In favour of “boss”: Ministers’ power to manage the CS; the requirement that the CS code “to carry out their duties for the assistance of the administration as it is duly constituted for the time being, whatever its political complexion.” (ss.3(1) and 7(2)).
In favour of “client” (ie duty to follow instructions is subject to professional-type obligations): s7(4) - integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality; requirements for selection on merit and fair and open competition; code part of CS terms and conditions. (Ss 7(4), 5, 10).
A good “boss” will of course value objectivity, honesty, and impartiality. As one of the most competent “bosses” the CS has ever had said, on appointment of her chief civil servant:
“This judgement I have of you, that you will not be corrupted by any manner of gifts, and that you will be faithful to the State; and that without respect of my private will, you will give me the counsel you think best.” (Elizabeth I to Cecil, 1558)
And note, critically, that talk of the minister being the “boss” is - in a democratic society governed by law - dangerous. Ultimately we - through Parliament and through the law passed by Parliament - are “the boss”, not ministers.
That is not the society in which Elizabeth I and Cecil lived: but even she was careful to talk about faithfulness to “the State” and acknowledged a distinction between her position as Queen and her “private will”.
(The current government often behaves as if it would re-write Elizabeth I’s words as “with deference to my private will, give me that counsel that you think I want to hear”.)
(@jillongovt’s thread on today’s speech by @michaelgove on government and the CS is a must-read).

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More from @GeorgePeretzQC

George Peretz QC Profile picture
16 Jun
A series of points on the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol.
1. It sets out binding obligations under international law - as an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement.
2. It is also incorporated into U.K. law (s.7A of the EU Withdrawal Agreement). It binds the U.K. government as a matter of domestic law (subject to legislation clearly overriding it, which would be unlikely to clear the House of Lords).
Read 17 tweets
George Peretz QC Profile picture
13 Jun
One under-discussed aspect of threats by the U.K. government to breach/ignore the I/NI Protocol: it needs to be remembered that non-compliance with the Protocol is also non-compliance with *domestic* U.K. law which the U.K. government has no *domestic* power to over-ride.
See s7A of the Withdrawal Act.
Subject to issues of standing (which are these days rarely decisive) the U.K. courts could be asked to make orders (declarations/injunctions) to restrain any government attempt to waive or legislate to remove Protocol obligations.
Read 8 tweets
George Peretz QC Profile picture
11 Jun
I think it’s important to explain why this take by @Dominic2306 is wrong (particularly as the thread goes on to call for - unspecified - JR reforms, on the basis that this shows why JR is damaging to good government). (Long thread)
First, when reading his criticisms of the detailed procurement rules, remember that the judge actually found that (apart from the apparent bias issue) the government complied with those rules and was entitled to use the emergency procedures.
(Judgment here: see grounds 1 and 2 - paras 71-131.) drive.google.com/file/d/1zf_3NX…
Read 31 tweets
George Peretz QC Profile picture
10 Jun
One obvious difficulty with the “unequal treaty” line is that those now saying it rather conspicuously didn’t at the time. This, by one @AllisterHeath. And, of course, the Tory manifesto presenting it as a “great deal”.
In one sense, that is history: if it’s a bad deal, then it doesn’t become a good one just because those (like @AllisterHeath) who now denounce it praised it (or at least went along with the “great deal” line) at the time.
But that masks the problem that making the Protocol work (or, for those determined to find an an alternative, getting agreement to any alternative) requires trust. And trust is in short supply, largely because of the current government’s conduct.
Read 5 tweets
George Peretz QC Profile picture
9 Jun
An example of the line between classical liberalism and Toryism being quite blurry.
To back up that point: consistent classical liberalism - eg Nozick - recognises that there is little or no justification for existing structures of wealth, property, and power. They are not products of voluntary transfer and exchange.
But faced with that problem, the classical liberal approach is typically to ignore or forget about it - at least in practice.
Read 11 tweets
George Peretz QC Profile picture
7 Jun
It’s always worth reading @HelenHet20 but I’m not clear from this piece what she thinks the English Question actually is. I think that that may be because she is confusing two questions.
One “question” is about English identity: where it is a commonplace since Orwell that the left can struggle to sound as if it likes England very much. I have various thoughts about what to do about that but it isn’t really my area.
But the other question is about accountability and say in decision-making. That is a question about local government/devolution/bringing decisions closer to home: and to the extent that Helen seems to be denying that there’s a demand for that in England, I think she’s wrong.
Read 8 tweets

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