Civil servants 'reaching out' to help Sir Keir prepare for government

Are civil servants showing their true colours? Blob ‘is reaching out’ to Labour to help Sir Keir get ready for Downing Street

• Shadow Cabinet source said officials were making informal contact with Labour
• It comes after Sue Gray’s controversial move from the Cabinet Office to Labour 

Senior civil servants are ‘reaching out’ to Labour to help Sir Keir Starmer prepare for government, it emerged last night.

A Shadow Cabinet source said officials were making informal contact with the party in breach of civil service guidelines.

The revelation will fuel concerns about the impartiality of the service – part of ‘the Blob’ – after Sue Gray’s controversial move from the Cabinet Office to Labour.

It will also raise questions about the ability of ministers to push through an ambitious Conservative agenda before a general election likely to be 18 months away.

The Labour source said: ‘Some civil servants are already reaching out to us with information. I have been stopped in the street by officials saying, ‘I know who you are and there are things you need to know’.

Sir Keir has already ordered his top team to draw up plans for Labour’s first 100 days in office if it wins power

‘Other colleagues have had similar experiences. It is not state secrets we’re talking about, it is part of the process of us preparing for government after a long time out of power. There are some officials who feel it is their duty to make sure we don’t come in completely cold.’

One former Cabinet minister said: ‘You are already seeing signs of the civil service looking to Labour and that is only going to get worse.

‘Civil servants have an eye on the polls and it will become increasingly difficult to push through anything that Labour is completely opposed to.

‘Rishi [Sunak] has probably only got a few months before it becomes impossible to get the Whitehall machine to do anything at all.’ Senior Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said: ‘Civil servants should not be giving the opposition informal briefings.

‘I think there is an element within the civil service that is attempting to ‘time out’ a Conservative Government, although there are others who are working very diligently.

‘They certainly shouldn’t be going up to Labour MPs in the street and saying they’ve got a good idea of how to bash the Government.’

It comes after Dominic Raab was forced to quit as justice secretary and deputy prime minister over disputed bullying allegations by junior staff.

The revelation will fuel concerns about the impartiality of the service – part of ‘the Blob’ – after Sue Gray’s controversial move from the Cabinet Office to Labour

He warned of ‘activist’ officials who were ‘effectively trying to block government’ because they opposed Conservative policies.

The Whitehall ‘Blob’ was blamed this week for the watering down of Mr Sunak’s pledge to scrap thousands of EU laws.

Civil servants are meant to hold direct talks with opposition politicians only in the immediate run-up to a general election.

Sir Keir has already ordered his top team to draw up plans for Labour’s first 100 days in office if it wins power.

But only a handful of shadow ministers have direct experience in government and Sir Keir is said to be concerned that his programme could get off to a slow start.

Miss Gray stunned Whitehall in March by quitting her civil service job to become Sir Keir’s chief of staff. As former head of the Government’s propriety and ethics team, she was privy to the secrets of a string of Cabinet ministers.

She also oversaw the controversial Partygate inquiry into lockdown gatherings in Downing Street that helped to force Boris Johnson out of office.

Her move has led to renewed questions about the impartiality of the civil service and has angered some former colleagues.

The matter is being investigated by the independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which has the power to recommend Miss Gray delay taking up the appointment by up to two years.

Sir Keir wants her in post in time to oversee Labour’s potential ‘transition’ to Government next year.

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