Labour: Whitehall is too white

If the Labour party come into power in 2015 they have pledged to ‘bust open’ the closed club that is Whitehall. In a speech at the Think Tank IPPR the Shadow Cabinet Office minister Michael Dugher announced that the elite Fast Stream programme will aim to comprise 18 per cent black and ethnic minority candidates (double the current level) and 24 per cent working-class candidates.

His plan is that over a five-year parliament the policy would produce 305 black and ethnic minority entrants. Furthermore, the party would also expand internship programmes for people from diverse backgrounds and add a further track to the fast stream for those who have completed the internship.

Mr Dugher said:

Labour would make sure kids from working-class backgrounds can help run the country, by busting open Whitehall."

We want ordinary kids to go to frontline government, from the classroom to the corridors of power. The Civil Service is like a closed shop, with fewer women, fewer ethnic minorities and fewer kids with working class parents.

Politics can often feel distant and remote from working people – Labour's answer is to put them at the heart of our system. We want a One Nation Civil Service which looks more like those it is intended to serve. Labour will create a new generation of civil service leaders which will change the culture of government.”

A senior civil servant, who did not want to be named told me that the present fast track system for graduate senior civil servants purports to be fair but is anything but.

He told me:

Many top class graduates fail because the cultural language, and form filling procedure benefits those from private schools."

Then, he explained:

Once you are through the door, that elite club continues. I’ve been in meetings where cultural signifiers, such as understanding Latin, or speaking French, really makes the difference whether or not you can be considered promotional material. It’s the most subtlest form of racial and social prejudice."

There is no doubt the present system of selection and promotion goes way beyond basic competency, therefore any measure that seeks to challenge that hegemony can only be good, not only for the individuals but for the governance of our democratic institutions too.

Simon Woolley