Must not praise Margaret Thatcher

Britain’s two most powerful civil servants were today accused of having ‘prostituted your high office’ after writing an article about Margaret Thatcher.

Labour MP Paul Flynn launched a lengthy attack against Sir Jeremy Heywood  and Sir Bob Kerslake, before storming out of a Commons committee.

The mandarins had praised the Iron Lady as a ‘kind and considerate boss’ who would make shepherd’s pie for staff when working late in Downing Street.

Sir Jeremy, the Cabinet Secretary, and Sir Bob, the head of the civil service, were forced to deny being pressured into writing the piece by Tory strategists as they were accused of breaching rules on impartiality for Whitehall staff.

The two men were giving evidence to the Public Administration Select Committee. Civil servants are supposed to remain impartial because they have to work with all political parties if they win a general elections.

Mr Flynn, Labour MP for Newport West, began the session with a 10 minute attack on the article.

He said: ‘The main controversy going on in the country may have passed you by is on the verdict on Margaret Thatcher’s period in government, this is something which divides this country, it’s the hottest political issue of the moment.

‘You penned an article that was entirely sycophantic, no kind of criticism whatsoever. This is not what civil servants traditionally should do.’

Sir Jeremy refused to apologise for the article, insisting it was ‘about the civil service relationship with Margaret Thatcher as a person, as a human being’.

Sir Bob added: ‘The article is not intended to be a comment on her policies, critical or otherwise.’

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