Institutional decline

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Boris Johnson has given a green light to ministers who wish to smear the reputations of top civil servants, a union leader has claimed, as a further allegation of unacceptable behaviour against the home secretary, Priti Patel, emerged on Sunday night. Following explosive claims from her former permanent secretary, Sir Philip Rutnam, that Patel lied and bullied staff, Dave Penman, the head of the senior civil servants union, the FDA, said that the prime minister and his closest aides have “ripped up the rule book” that ensured the ministers do not attack civil servants. Penman said the use of unattributable comments and smears against Rutnam were part of a campaign by No 10 to undermine senior mandarins.

“Civil servants need to be able to give ministers impartial, evidence-based, professional advice. Whilst that is not always welcome, it is essential for good government. “The concern will be that if this advice is viewed as inconvenient or obstructive, then unattributable briefings will ensue. As we’ve seen with this latest episode, that can be both highly personal and career-threatening. “What we are witnessing now is becoming a new norm. It’s also increasingly clear that this modus operandi is being led by No 10 and those around the prime minister,” he said.

The row comes two weeks after Sajid Javid quit as chancellor when Johnson ordered him to fire his team of aides.

No 10 helping to smear top civil servants, says union leader | Politics | The Guardian

The Department for Work and Pensions has been accused of “a cover-up” after destroying reports into suicides linked to benefits being stopped. Around 50 reviews into deaths following the loss of social security payments before 2015 have been shredded, officials have admitted – blaming data protection laws. However, the data watchdog has said there was no requirement to destroy the reports by any particular date and that a “public interest” exemption could have been used.

'Cover-up': DWP destroyed reports into people who killed themselves after benefits were stopped | The Independent

Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s adviser, now holds so much power that 16-year-old stories about him are being excavated for clues about the direction of Boris Johnson’s policy.  The latest is a blog post from the New Frontiers Foundation, a think tank run by Cummings, in 2004. It said that the BBC’s credibility needed “undermining”; called for “the creation of a Fox News equivalent” to “shift the centre of gravity”; and urged “the end of the ban on TV political advertising”.

Will Dominic Cummings be able to replace the BBC with a British version of Fox News? | The Independent

• Looks like the UK is taking a leaf out of Trump's playbook