Douglas Carswell's Blog

Concerned about Sir Humphrey? It's not just me

I asked the Prime Minister during PMQs today about the extent to which the Sir Humphrey's are frustrating the government's reform agenda.  

At the weekend, Greg Barker, the extremely astute MP and minister also declared that the "whole balance of power between ministers and civil servants” needs to be looked at.  The balance of power has moved from elected representatives to unelected officials in recent years, he said.

Greg added: “There is a genuine unaccountability in Government in that so many decisions and appointments are being taken by the civil service and faceless unaccountable committees.

“There needs to be more accountability – more decisions taken by ministers who are then held accountable for them to parliament."

This is a question that is not going to go away.

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