Anthony Barnett (London, OK): Following in the footsteps of Thatcher the Blairites always despised civil servants. Now one of them has spoken the sentiment they all share: “You have totally dysfunctional governance in Whitehall” ex-Minister Alun Michaels told the Oxford Internet Institute's conference in London yesterday. The packed event had a trendy name, Gov 2.0 and was about the role of IT in transforming the way we are governed. There was much discussion in the first session chaired by Michaels about the billions - is it £10 billion or £14 billion or even £18 billion? - wasted on large government IT projects over New Labour's decade. He wasn't going to have ministers blamed in any way and just pointed the finger at the civil service. Ministers are the solution not the problem! Without Ministers nothing would have happened on climate change, Michaels claimed, as the all-male panel frowned and scratched its beards. I have never heard this said with such confidence and as a received wisdom - that what was once referred to in pious, hushed terms as the world's best civil service led by men with Rolls Royce minds is in fact a pile of junk.
Of course what is really dysfunctional is the current relationship of the elected to the appointed executive. While they carry on blaming each other they will continue to squander the country's opportunities.
