Theme: Public Policy | Content Type: Journal article

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Lessons from the Covid-19 Inquiry for the Civil Service

Deborah Mabbett

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IF WE DIDN'T KNOW it before, the Covid-19 inquiry has made it abundantly clear that the UK entered the pandemic with a Prime Minister and a special adviser who were so unsuited to their roles that they made literally a lethal combination. However, it would be a shame if all that is learned is that you don't want to be relying on Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings in an emergency. Beneath the ##**!# of the WhatsApp messages lie other potentially more significant and enduring lessons, particularly about the state of the Civil Service. The Covid-19 inquiry offers compelling evidence that the working relationship between ministers and civil servants has become dysfunctional. Ministers are often disappointed with the quality of Civil Service advice and distrustful of officials’ intentions. Civil servants, for their part, are unable to stand up to behaviour by ministers that breaches established standards of propriety and codes of conduct.

  • Deborah Mabbett

    Deborah Mabbett

    Deborah Mabbett is Co-Editor of the Political Quarterly journal. She is also Professor of Public Policy at Birkbeck, University of London.

    Articles by Deborah Mabbett
Volume 96, Issue 1

Latest Journal Issue

Volume 96, Issue 1

This issue features a collection titled 'The 2024 UK General Election' edited by Ben Jackson, Colm Murphy and Peter Sloman, in which authors including Ross Mckibbin; Will Jennings,  Gerry Stoker, Paula Surridge, Maria Sobolewska, Mathew Lawrence and many more discuss the sources of Labour’s victory and consider how the result will shape the future of British politics. Other articles include a commentary by Deborah Mabbett on Trump's proposal to buy Greenland; 'Centralised by Design: Anglocentric Constitutionalism, Accountability and the Failure of English Devolution' by John Denham and Janice Morphet; 'Broke and Broken: The Crises Facing Local Government in England' by David Jeffery; and 'Biographies of Discontent: The Challenges Facing Labour' by Helen Goodman. A selection of book reviews feature Morgan Jones' thoughts on 'Against Landlords: How to Solve the Housing Crisis' by Nick Bano, and Lyndsey Jenkins' review of 'Orwell's Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-First Century' by Laura Beers.

Find out more about the latest issue of the journal