Blaming The Civil Service Does Labour "No Favours", Says Wes Streeting
Wes Streeting also said that the government "should try to get it right first time in 2026" (Alamy)
3 min read
It does the centre-left "no favours" blaming the civil service for struggles to deliver in government, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said.
Speaking at a conference hosted by the Institute for Government think tank (IfG) on Tuesday morning, Streeting, widely seen as a frontrunner to succeed Keir Starmer as Labour leader, said his party had to stop making excuses, warning: "If we tell the public that we can’t make anything work, then why on earth would they vote to keep us in charge?"
Since Labour entered office in 2024, party figures have complained about what they have described as a slow and bureaucratic civil service, making it difficult to deliver.
The Prime Minister's former director of strategy, Paul Ovendon, recently criticised how the civil service works in a piece for The Times, describing the "sheer weirdness of how Whitehall spends its time" and what he called a "stakeholder state".
Speaking this morning, Streeting warned that politicians on the right encourage the argument "that things can't change" and are "rolling the pitch to come in with a chainsaw and tear up public services".
"Bafflingly, some on my own side of the political divide have begun to parrot the same argument. They complain about the civil service. They blame stakeholder capture," he added.
"This excuses culture does the centre-left no favours. If we tell the public that we can’t make anything work, then why on earth would they vote to keep us in charge?"
"And we should be in no doubt that they are excuses."
Using a "shopping trolley" analogy, Streeting added, "there's no point complaining about the wonky wheel if you’re letting the trolley have a mind of its own, instead of steering it towards the destination you’re after."
Streeting was also asked about recent government U-turns on issues like farmers' inheritance tax.
The Health Secretary argued it was better to change position if it is the right thing to do, rather than stick with a worse policy to avoid embarrassment, saying it is "far better to do the right thing rather than to spare one's political blushes".
However, he added: "In the NHS, we have an initiative called GERFT (to get it right first time). That should be our New Year's resolution for 2026. Let's try and get it right first time."
Baroness Louise Casey, speaking at the same event, also reflected on the state of the civil service and the willingness of the government to tackle the issues.
Asked why there is a sense of "helplessness and drift" despite Labour's large majority, Casey said: "The political side is sick to the back teeth of people either not telling them no or not doing it."
However, Casey, who is currently leading an independent commission into adult social care, criticised the language used by some around wanting to "take a chainsaw to public services".
"We don't need a chainsaw, thank you very much. Don't like that type of language. Don't need that. Don't need disrespect. Thank you."
