As my last post suggested, we’re entering times of fear and loathing in Whitehall.
There is a lot of animosity growing over the way mid-level officials are handing this spending round.
The latest trick may give you an idea why.
Sniffy Treasury officials are phoning round Whitehall to tell people they are “the last department to submit their bid”.
It is classic naughty schoolboy treatment. If you submit your homework late how can you expect a fair mark?
A brilliant wheeze. But of course all the spending departments see right through it. It is pretty hard to like someone who is asking you to cut your budget by 40 per cent. But the Treasury are not helping matters.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey