Patrick Diamond writes that the Cummings coronavirus row has wider implications for the machinery of British government. These revolve around the status of political advisers and the future of Cummings’s state reform visions

Diamond, Patrick

English

LSE Research Online

A reformer from a bygone era: what the Cummings saga tells us about British governanceLSE Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/104896/Version: Published VersionOnline resource:Diamond, Patrick (2020) A reformer from a bygone era: what the Cummings sagatells us about British governance. British Politics and Policy at LSE (26 May 2020).Blog Entry. lseresearchonline@lse.ac.ukhttps://eprints.lse.ac.uk/ ReuseItems deposited in LSE Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the LSE Research Online record for the item.A	reformer	from	a	bygone	era:	What	the	Cummingssaga	tells	us	about	British	governancePatrick	Diamond	writes	that	the	Cummings	coronavirus	row	has	wider	implications	for	themachinery	of	British	government.	These	revolve	around	the	status	of	political	advisers	and	thefuture	of	Cummings’s	state	reform	visions.As	the	row	over	Dominic	Cummings’s	breach	of	lockdown	rules	escalates,	threatening	to	engulf	theentire	Johnson	Administration,	it	is	worth	reflecting	on	the	implications	of	the	dispute	for	the	future	ofBritish	governance	more	generally.	The	big	questions	that	arise	go	beyond	the	details	of	MrCummings’s	breach	and	the	fundamental	principles	of	propriety,	truth,	and	integrity	in	high	office.	They	concernhow	the	machinery	of	government	is	likely	to	develop	in	the	future.The	first	implication	is	what	this	case	tells	us	about	the	status	of	political	advisers	in	British	politics.	The	Code	ofConduct	for	Special	Advisers	published	by	the	Cabinet	Office	is	clear	that	the	purpose	of	political	advisers	is	‘to	adda	political	dimension	to	the	advice	and	assistance	available	to	Ministers’.	According	to	the	official	constitutionalrationale,	special	advisers	protect	the	neutrality	of	civil	servants,	undertaking	tasks	of	a	political	nature	which	–	ifperformed	by	officials	–	would	undermine	their	ability	to	serve	future	governments	of	a	different	political	complexion.Civil	servants	claim	to	welcome	the	presence	of	special	advisers	who	provide	knowledge	and	insight	on	issues	offuture	policy,	while	offering	steers	on	the	political	views	of	Ministers.	The	benign	interpretation	is	that	the	Britishsystem	of	government	cultivates	a	mutually	beneficial	partnership,	a	‘governing	marriage’	between	Ministers,officials,	and	political	appointees.Certainly,	there	have	been	controversial	special	advisers	before,	many	of	whom	were	forced	to	resign	because	theybreached	the	unwritten	rule	that	political	aides	must	never	become	the	media	story	–	the	most	pertinent	recentexamples	being	Theresa	May’s	notorious	aides,	Nick	Timothy	and	Fiona	Hill.	Yet	Timothy	and	Hill	were,	by	andlarge,	backroom	operators	who	were	fired	ultimately	because	their	boss	was	politically	weakened	in	the	aftermathof	the	2017	general	election	debacle.	Without	question,	it	is	an	important	moment	in	the	development	of	the	Britishpolitical	system	that	a	special	adviser	such	as	Dominic	Cummings	is	able	to	hold	their	own	impromptu	pressconference	in	the	garden	of	10	Downing	Street,	taking	questions	from	journalists	while	holding	court	in	front	of	theworld’s	media.Indeed,	paragraph	14	of	the	Special	Advisers	Code	states	that,	‘Special	advisers	must	not	take	public	part	inpolitical	controversy,	through	any	form	of	statement	whether	in	speeches	or	letters	to	the	press,	or	in	books,	socialmedia,	articles	or	leaflets.	They	must	observe	discretion	and	express	comment	with	moderation,	avoiding	personalattacks,	and	would	not	normally	speak	in	public	for	their	Minister	or	the	Department’.	The	function	of	advisers	is,	‘torepresent	the	views	of	their	Minister	to	the	media’,	rather	than	to	justify	their	own	actions	or	personal	behaviour.	Inthis	extraordinary	situation,	Ministers	are	being	sent	onto	the	airwaves	to	defend	the	position	of	a	political	adviser.This	is	a	remarkable	moment.The	implications	of	Cummings’s	media	appearance	will	be	far-reaching.	We	have	reached	a	critical	juncture,constitutionally	a	point	of	no	return.	There	is	likely	to	be	growing	pressure	for	special	advisers	to	give	testimonywhere	they	are	involved	in	public	controversies,	notably	to	parliamentary	select	committees.	Cummings’s	actionswill	bolster	the	arguments	of	those	who	insist	special	advisers	have	a	malign	impact	on	the	conduct	of	government,reducing	civil	servants	to	the	status	of	‘passive	functionaries’	and	politicising	public	administration.	Cummings	is	awell-known	critic	of	the	British	civil	service.	He	regards	the	permanent	bureaucracy	as	slow-moving,	unimaginative,cumbersome,	detached	from	seismic	shifts	in	the	world	of	technology	and	ideas.	Cummings’s	explicit	goal	is	to‘drain	the	swamp’	of	the	Whitehall	bureaucracy,	moving	towards	a	‘them	and	us’	model	where	civil	servants	nolonger	offer	advice,	but	merely	do	what	Ministers	tell	them.	Civil	servants	become	the	implementors	of	policy	ratherthan	the	initiators	of	policy;	delivery	agents,	not	ministerial	advisers	with	the	capacity	to	‘speak	truth	to	power’.British Politics and Policy at LSE: A reformer from a bygone era: What the Cummings saga tells us about British governance Page 1 of 2		Date originally posted: 2020-05-26Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/cummings-governance-implications/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/The	second	implication	of	the	dispute	is	what	the	row	tells	us	about	the	status	of	the	institutional	innovator	anddisrupter	in	the	system	of	government.	It	may	well	be	that	Cummings’s	mission	to	rewire	the	British	state	whileradically	recasting	the	Whitehall	machinery	is	dead	in	the	water.	His	ideas	about	how	to	reorganise	the	statemachine	might	be	deemed	necessary	for	an	age	of	disruption,	but	he	will	find	formidable	forces	of	conservatism	inthe	government	machine	ranged	against	him,	just	at	the	moment	his	political	capital	is	depleted	badly.	One	difficultyis	that	Cummings	is	attempting	to	orchestrate	change	from	the	centre	in	10	Downing	Street.	In	the	British	system	ofgovernment,	it	is	departments	that	usually	reign	supreme.	Departments	are	the	centres	of	decision-making	power,autonomous	territories	where	policy	is	formulated,	budgets	are	allocated,	and	implementation	is	co-ordinated.	Evennominally	powerful	prime	ministers	with	landslide	parliamentary	majorities	such	as	Margaret	Thatcher	and	TonyBlair	discovered	that	departments	have	the	capacity	to	thwart	the	will	of	the	centre.Another	problem	is	that	resistance	to	fundamental	change	in	the	government	machine	comes	not	only	from	civilservants,	but	Ministers	themselves.	Away	from	the	highly	politicised	centre	of	power	in	Number	10,	Ministers	by	andlarge	work	closely	with	their	officials	who	they	regard	as	problem-solvers,	Machiavellian	fixers,	loyal	courtiers,	andexpert	bureaucrats	who	know	about	how	to	drive	through	change,	navigating	the	byzantine	rituals	of	Whitehall.	Thetension	is	even	more	acute	in	a	Conservative	government,	where	traditionalists	favour	the	preservation	of	existinginstitutions,	upholding	the	long-standing	Northcote-Trevelyan	principles	of	impartiality	and	merit-based	appointment.At	the	beginning	of	2020	when	Cummings	went	public	with	his	plan	to	recruit	dozens	of	‘weirdo’	data	scientists	intogovernment	supplanting	ostensibly	ineffectual	civil	servants,	a	Cabinet	Minister	told	The	Times:	‘One	of	the	bigproblems	with	[Cummings’s]	pull	the	pin	out	of	the	grenade,	drop	it	in	the	bunker,	and	see	what	happens	approachis	that	it	is	so	destabilising…we	take	several	steps	backwards	before	we’ve	even	started’.In	the	world	after	the	pandemic,	it	is	very	probable	that	the	debate	about	state	reform	in	Britain	will	take	a	quitedifferent	direction	to	that	envisaged	by	the	Cummings’s	prospectus.	The	state	is	back	as	an	economic	actor,	and	assuch,	thirty	years	of	antipathy	to	government	as	a	force	for	good	may	be	waning.	It	is	public	servants	who	haveensured	that	furlough	wages	and	benefits	are	paid	on	time,	while	businesses	are	protected.	Discussion	will	centreon	how	to	restore	the	capacity	of	government	to	tackle	major	challenges	from	strategic	risks	such	as	futurepandemics	and	climate	change,	to	the	long-term	implications	of	the	crisis,	notably	tackling	public	health	inequalitieswhile	repurposing	institutions.	Unquestionably,	the	overly	centralised	nature	of	the	British	state	will	come	underrenewed	scrutiny.	In	this	climate,	Cummings	may	well	appear	a	reformer	from	a	bygone	era.____________________About	the	AuthorPatrick	Diamond	is	Associate	Professor	of	Public	Policy	at	Queen	Mary,	University	of	London,	anda	former	Government	Special	Adviser.		All	articles	posted	on	this	blog	give	the	views	of	the	author(s),	and	not	the	position	of	LSE	British	Politics	and	Policy,nor	of	the	London	School	of	Economics	and	Political	Science.	Featured	image	credit:	by	LucaCampioni	on	Unsplash.British Politics and Policy at LSE: A reformer from a bygone era: What the Cummings saga tells us about British governance Page 2 of 2		Date originally posted: 2020-05-26Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/cummings-governance-implications/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/

A reformer from a bygone era: what the Cummings saga tells us about British governance

http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/104896/1/politicsandpolicy_cummings_governance.pdf

A reformer from a bygone era: what the Cummings saga tells us about British governance

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