Nigel Farage has hit out at civil servants, claiming some of the abuse he has received in Whitehall has been worse than that of a left-wing student union.
Speaking on GB News, the presenter reacted to reports suggesting the service is keen for a change of Government.
The Telegraph reported a “word cloud” was produced and the most popular responses were a “change of government” and “general election”.
A Tory source told the paper that the incident “raises huge questions” about the “impartiality” of senior civil servants.
Nigel Farage has hit out at the civil service
GB NEWS
Farage said the report did not surprise him, claiming he has been subject to abuse while walking through Whitehall.
He likened some of the scenes he has experienced to that seen in a “left-wing student union”.
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“If you walk with me one morning at half past eight down Whitehall, as the civil servants that still work in offices are coming in, you will see a tirade of foul-mouthed abuse against me that I wouldn’t even see at a left-wing student union”, he said.
“You begin to understand who the civil service are. We need to drain the swamp in this country.
“I’m not pretending this is an easy battle. Tony Blair utterly politicised the whole thing two decades ago.
“We face a gargantuan problem to get our country back on track, and right now, no one is even trying.”
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It comes as Cabinet Office minister John Glen unveiled plans to strengthen the Civil Service’s impartiality rules.
He said that Whitehall should better reflect practice in the private sector by “swiftly” moving on those who fail to do their jobs.
“In some cases, consistently underperforming staff can languish in roles or move between departments without properly addressing the reasons for poor performance,” he said.
“In the worst cases, managers can too often feel unable to remove consistently poor performers. This is a problem that needs a solution.”
He wants a Civil Service that is “more skilled”, adding that he intends to make sure they are “better rewarded” in order to ensure this.
“Have higher pay where it’s linked to performance management improvement but there’s a corollary of that around saying some people need to be let go more swiftly,” he added.
