An extract from theCivil Service Code which relates to the conduct of Special Advisers

5. Special advisers should conduct themselves with integrity and honesty. They should not deceive or knowingly mislead Parliament or the public. They should not misuse their official position or information acquired in the course of their official duties to further their private interests or the private interests of others. They should not receive benefits of any kind which others might reasonably see as compromising their personal judgement or integrity. They should not without authority disclose official information which has been communicated in confidence in Government or received in confidence from others. The principles of public life set down by the Committee on Standards in Public Life, at Annex B, provide a framework for all public servants.

6. Special advisers should not use official resources for party political activity. They are employed to serve the objectives of the Government and the Department in which they work. It is this which justifies their being paid from public funds and being able to use public resources, and explains why their participation in party politics is carefully limited. They should act in a way which upholds the political impartiality of civil servants and does not conflict with the Civil Service Code. They should avoid anything which might reasonably lead to the criticism that people paid from public funds are being used for party political purposes.

My highlighting at the end there. Is it in any way right that we are paying for people like this? Paying six figure salaries, I might add.

Discuss (In the usual STW stylee…. 😉 )

Bernard Ingham

Was he not a career civil servant, as opposed to a direct political chum appointed to the job, TJ? IIRC he also worked for Tony Benn. OK, so for much of his career he worked for one person, but I think he had a wider experience.

That aside, the thing here is that I don’t think that any party should be able to have people paid a shed load of public cash to manipulate and spin.

My memory is that he was the first of the overtly political civil servants.

You are right in that it stinks to high heaven of course – but it was started by the tories.