Written evidence submitted by John McTernan (SIR0008)

 

Summary of evidence

 

 

Background

 

  1. I am an experienced government adviser having worked as Head of Policy for the Scottish Government, Political Secretary for Prime Minister Tony Blair, Director of Communications for Julia Gillard and as special adviser in the Department of Social Security, the Scotland Office and the Ministry of Defence.

 

  1. I have worked internationally, including: Thinker in Residence for the South Australian State Government; advising the Victorian State Government on preparation for change of administration; training Indonesian MPs in policy development and scrutiny; drafting the manifesto of the Transitional Government of Iraq.

 

  1. I have extensive experience of working as a political adviser with civil servants and respecting their political neutrality, and the politicisation of the UK civil service in Scotland is unprecedented.

 

Boiling the frog

 

  1. The process which has been used by the SNP Scottish Government to politicise the civil service has been a multi-step one. First, they redefined the referendum. No longer for them a binary question – Yes/No – it is instead in their minds an election. Second, they say the public need information so produce ‘Scotland’s Future. Third, they declare that a Yes vote is a mandate for every claim in that document.

 

  1. In the words of the BBC: ‘As well as making the case for independence, the White Paper also set out a series of policy pledges which the SNP said it would pursue if elected as the government of an independent Scotland.’

 

  1. The problem is that the current Scottish Government cannot set out a programme for an independent Scotland. That would be a matter for political parties in a contest in the event of independence. So, the civil service have written and the taxpayer has paid for a party political manifesto.

 

  1. The civil service have crossed a line, but ever so gradually. They are like the mythical frog: ‘if you plunge them into boiling water they'll immediately jump out. But if you place them into room temperature water and slowly heat it to boiling, the frog won't notice and will slowly cook to death.’

 

Civil Service Code

 

  1. The document ‘Scotland’s Future’ is a significant breach of the Civil Service Code. Guidance for civil servants on approaching the referendum commits them to upholding values of ‘honesty, integrity, objectivity and impartiality’.

 

  1. One specific example is the treatment of Trident. In ‘Scotland’s Future’ it says: ‘Trident is an affront to basic decency with its indiscriminate and inhumane destructive power.’ That is not a statement of fact, it is a party political view.

 

  1. Further, they use false figures in the document. The cost of Trident cited is £100bn. Google that and you will find it in SNP press releases. The official figure – which a white paper produced by civil servants should use – £25bn over 50 years.

 

  1. Then there is the Scottish government website www.scotreferendum.com. It contains questions and answers.

 

  1. To the question: ‘Isn’t the Scottish Parliament going to get more powers anyway if Scotland votes No?’ the answer is: ‘The only way for Scotland to get all the powers needed to make Scotland a better place is through independence.’ This is a matter of party political opinion, not a statement of fact. The exact opposite of something a civil service committed to the values of honesty and integrity should produce – and a statement that should not be supported by public funds.

 

Conclusion

 

  1. There has been blatant politicisation of the UK civil service in Scotland and clear breaches of the Civil Service Code.

 

  1. The Committee should ask why this has happened, and why neither the Permanent Secretary of the Scottish Government or the Head of the Civil Service has acted to protect the political neutrality of civil servants.

 

April 2014