Blair accused of 'Whitehall coup'

12 April 2012

Tony Blair has been accused of staging "a coup" against Whitehall when he swept to power in 1997.

Former cabinet secretaries line up in a BBC Radio 4 documentary to accuse the Prime Minister of riding roughshod over traditional "Yes, Minister" procedures.

Lord Wilson - formerly Richard Wilson, cabinet secretary from 1998 to 2002 - says: "One of the characteristics of New Labour when it came to power was the way it asserted political control over the machinery of government.

"It staged a coup first of all against the Labour Party and then against the processes of government."

He adds: "Politicisation is about political control of the government machine being much more tightly gripped within relatively few hands and I think that is what has happened."

His predecessor Lord (Robin) Butler says: "When New Labour came in, we were determined not only to show that we would work wholeheartedly for them and that we were committed, but we were very reluctant to say 'well, we can't carry out these ideas'. I think that we may have been too reluctant to say 'No, Minister'."

And Lord Turnbull, cabinet secretary from 2002 to 2005, says: "Was too much policy developed at the centre? Yes, I think it was. The occupants of 10 and 11 (Downing Street) have got to be very sensitive to the downside of taking over a piece of policy that could be done in a department.

"It's often a short-sighted view, because if you are constantly taking something over you will not develop the capability and also people won't develop the sense of pride, they will actually feel belittled."

But current cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell tells the programme Shape Up, Sir Humphrey, to be broadcast on Thursday at 8pm: "There is no point in collecting Yes Men around you.

"Both the PM and Chancellor are big enough beasts to not want that. They actually want someone who is going to say 'actually, this is not going to be good for you long-term', so I don't buy this story about politicisation."

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