The Guardian: Four in five civil service specialists dissatisfied with handling of Brexit

30 August 2018

Just one in 20 specialist civil servants is satisfied with the government’s approach to Brexit, a significant drop in approval from nearly one in five last year, according to a union survey.

Four out of five of Whitehall’s scientists, engineers, analysts and mathematicians told the Prospect union they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the government’s ability to negotiate with the EU.

As well as a lack of progress in negotiations with the EU, union executives blamed the dramatic drop in satisfaction on ministers such as Michael Gove for undermining the role of government specialists. The environment secretary notoriously claimed before the EU referendum that “people have had enough of experts”. 

Mike Clancy, the general secretary of Prospect, which has members in departments including environment, defence and transport, said the findings showed Whitehall’s experts were losing confidence in the government’s ability to find a way through the negotiations. [...]

Full article on The Guardian


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