by Spuffler » Wed May 02, 2012 1:37 pm
Over the last two decades or so I've had a lot to do with both UK government departments and the EC. I'd rather have the latter 100 times over! Without exception, in my experience, our civil servants now are interested in only one thing - how to get on. Projects are 'manipulated' to maximise the usefulness of the project to aid career progression, one result of which is often unnecessary proliferation of projects. Political in-fighting over projects is now endemic. We used to have a good honest civil service, but I firmly believe that those days are long gone. Incompetence doesn't appear to matter; and competence in the job is no longer the deciding factor for promotion.
As we have seen with politicians, this is endemic in government too. Cronyism, political self-interest, behaviour that used to be viewed as corrupt, all appear to be the norm now, and our country pays a high price for it all. God only knows where we're heading, but it's not to a better future, IMHO. The sad thing is that it needn't be like this; and as government is supposed to be the example to others, so the cancer spreads and proliferates. Perhaps it's as well that we are at the stage in life that we are at; I would truly hate to be having to start out on a career and e.g. married life today.