Dominic Raab blames “activist civil servants” for his downfall (Dominic Raab resignation raises questions about Rishi Sunak’s judgment, 21 April). Rightly, the former Whitehall mandarins Simon McDonald and Bob Kerslake have dismissed this conspiracy theory. Raab’s fall from grace is just the latest example of macho Brexit fantasies about how the world should be colliding with reality. For rage at civil servants sticking up for their rights, read the traditional Eurosceptic hatred of “unelected Brussels bureaucrats”.
In Raab’s mind, he was only showing the hard-working “pace, standards and challenge” that “the public expect of ministers working on their behalf”. In reality, civil servants were petrified of disagreeing with him to the extent that some of them felt physically sick before meetings.
Joe McCarthy
Dublin, Ireland
