IT’S A SAD, SAD SITUATION

It’s no secret I love a crisis. I have that sort of temperament: I don’t panic; I made decisions [they may not be right] quickly; and I don’t dwell on the outcome for long. I am pretty sure some people believe I create chaos deliberately – as it has certainly followed me around – just for personal amusement.

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When I did one of those Myers Briggs personality trait tests I came out as someone who was task-focussed to the exclusion of almost all else. In some textbooks the type is known as the ‘Field Marshal’ but, to people around me, I suspect it simply signalled, ‘bloody nuisance’.

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Looking at the last few days I fear I may have more than I’d like in common with the outgoing Prime Minister. And it goes beyond some skill with words, an interest in the Classics and hair that won’t behave [although mine makes me despair and he muzzes his up on purpose].

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I don’t like to get too political – but, I can’t pretend this week hasn’t happened. It has been fascinating, fast and furious. Resignations have come more often than trains. But, while I’d have loved to be in the thick of it, I worry it is all a side show to the damage that has been done.

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I am conscious that across the APS family we have members from all political corners. People will have different views to mine and everyone has a right to theirs. In fact, I believe listening to opposing views is a strength that brings about better decision-making and something we ought to cultivate not close down. So, what I am about to say isn’t party political. It’s about integrity and decency. It’s about how good government functions. And that doesn’t depend on the colour of the rosette you pin on your coat.

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At this point I have to declare an interest. I met Boris Johnson when he was Mayor of London. I didn’t like him - but I could feel the Newtonian pull of the showman in him. He is charismatic. And he is funny.

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Sadly, I can also see he may come out somewhere near me on the personality scale. I don’t think either of us is naturally sympathetic or in tune with the people around us. But, while I’ve tried to temper my ‘King of the World’ tendencies, aiming - in a Yeatsian way to tread – like a butterfly - lightly on people’s dreams, BJ has, more in the style of Cassius Clay, delivered a bee-sting left-hook to government and the constitution.

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Just look at the legislation and regulations that bind your daily behaviour at work.

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We have just seen the Building Safety Act get Royal Assent. There is significant work to be done to get the secondary legislation – the regulations which will determine how people in the built environment do their daily tasks - written and taken through parliament. There are new planning laws to be debated and completed. But the Levelling Up department has had a new bench of ministers so often, and so fast, they never get a chance to grasp any of the detail. There was a moment this week when the department had no elected ministers at all. We have lost Michael Gove and gained Greg Clarke. He seems like a decent bloke but I don’t suppose he’ll sit in that seat long.

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And it’s not just about the built environment. It’s across the board. To illustrate the point: I have a good friend who works in the justice department – so not a set of subjects without significant consequences for the public. He and his colleagues swap secretaries of state about once a year – sometimes more.

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This rapid turnaround is not conducive to good policy making. There is a place for people like me who do things at a gallop but the workhorse delivering sensible legislation must move carefully and thoughtfully through lines of text, parliamentary questions and daily casework at a much steadier pace. And departments need in the saddle someone who at least knows how to ride that particular horse and who won’t baulk at the hedges.

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And it’s not as if the country doesn’t have major hurdles to negotiate. The economy is unsteady. Energy and other costs are escalating. There are shortages of materials and skilled people. Brexit needs to be fixed – somehow. The wider world is precarious.

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And, currently, the country is riderless - and will remain so until we have a new leader in place.

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But I think getting the UK back on track will take more than a trip up the Mall to see the Queen. It will demand good character. From our politicians – and from us.

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We must require better behaviour from our elected representatives. But we can’t be two-faced about this. Because, to some extent, we got the government we conjured up. The country has to look beyond the flash and flim-flam to something deeper and more considered. We don’t want another cartoon clown at the heart of government. But, at the same time, we have to give up the national addiction to red top tales of numerous women and multiple children. Lavish wallpaper and lockdown parties. Of lies and sleaze. And more lies.

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I don’t know what history will write about Boris. All I know is that good government is not reality television and celebrity doesn’t guarantee sound decisions. And I think it’s time to get down to honesty, decency and plain hard work.