Douglas Carswell's Blog

What is honourable about the honours system?

Now we know why Sir Humphrey is always Sir Humphrey. 

The Whitehall system that dishes out all the gongs and knighthoods is run by Whitehall officials - accountable mainly to other Whitehall officials. 

So guess what? Whitehall officials tend to get lots of gongs and knighthoods just for .... errrr .... doing their job.  Today's Public Administration Committee report exposes a little bit more about the "Carry on, Whitehall" culture that pervades within SW1.    

The trouble is that it is not only the honours system that seems to be run this way. The entire machinery of state seems to be run in the interests of the people who work for it.

Every wondered why officials in the department of education consistently obstruct efforts to give parents greater power? Because giving mums and dads choice means less role for Sir Humphrey.

Every pondered why our diplomatic corp always seek to cut supranational deals with other diplomats? Deal making is what diplomats do, even if it is not in our national interest to sign up to binding international agreements.

A generation ago the Conservatives realised that they could never make the radical changes that Britain then needed without taking on the National Union of Miners. Today’s Conservatives will never deliver the change we need unless they are prepared to take on and defeat the Sir Humphreys. 

This is about far more than who gets the Establishment baubles .....

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