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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Rowena Mason Whitehall editor

Tory ‘ideological war’ on civil servants sees morale plumb new depths

Whitehall Dominic Raab Jill Rutter ​​Rishi Sunak Simon Case Jacob ReesMogg Cabinet Office the Institute for Government
Man walks by Whitehall and Parliament Street Signs
Senior Whitehall sources have told the Guardian the atmosphere feels worse than ever. Photograph: Richard Baker/In Pictures/Getty Images

“Almost every civil servant I talk to is looking for a way out,” says Jill Rutter, a former Treasury official and now an expert on Whitehall.

It’s hardly a surprise after the past few years: civil servants have been demonised as workshy by former Cabinet Office minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, blamed for the Partygate scandal by Boris Johnson and threatened with 91,000 job cuts.

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