THE awkward relationship between public servant and politician was thrown into sharp relief this week by an email released by the chief executive of GuernseyFinance.
Peter Niven’s scathing attack on Deputy Gloria Dudley-Owen’s work ethic drew a furious response from deputies who circled their wagons in defence of a beleaguered colleague.
Their response was two-fold. Firstly, that the email was wrong as the deputy was a hardworking States member and an assiduous researcher; secondly, and more loudly, how dare a public servant criticise an elected member of the Assembly.
For while Mr Niven is no doubt far from the first civil servant to feel frustrated with his political masters, by making his feelings public he has broken the ultimate political taboo.
This Assembly is not united on much, but what it does seem to agree on is that the uneasy bond of trust that exists between deputies and senior civil servants must not be broken. Without it, islanders might get to know too much of the inevitable tensions that exist between the Sir Humpreys of the civil service and their Ministers.
Meetings, conversations and correspondence would then become all the more difficult with the threat of public disclosure hanging over them.
Which was precisely why the rug was pulled quite so sharply from under the chief executive’s feet. Deputies used the privilege of the States chamber to mount a robust defence at least as offensive as the original attack while the minister for Commerce and Employment completed an uncomfortable two days in the chamber with an apology on behalf of GuernseyFinance and her department.
All of which leaves the offender in a very precarious position. Cut down by his chairman and publicly rebuked by his minister, Mr Niven must be spending the remainder of his holiday wondering what the consequences will be of hitting that send button.
That the email should have been consigned to the bin is undoubted, that it should cost the island the services of a financier who has worked hard to promote the island’s most important industry is a step too far.
Trash the email, not its author
THE awkward relationship between public servant and politician was thrown into sharp relief this week by an email released by the chief executive of GuernseyFinance.
Peter Niven’s scathing attack on Deputy Gloria Dudley-Owen’s work ethic drew a furious response from deputies who circled their wagons in defence of a beleaguered colleague.
Their response was two-fold. Firstly, that the email was wrong as the deputy was a hardworking States member and an assiduous researcher; secondly, and more loudly, how dare a public servant criticise an elected member of the Assembly.
For while Mr Niven is no doubt far from the first civil servant to feel frustrated with his political masters, by making his feelings public he has broken the ultimate political taboo.
This Assembly is not united on much, but what it does seem to agree on is that the uneasy bond of trust that exists between deputies and senior civil servants must not be broken. Without it, islanders might get to know too much of the inevitable tensions that exist between the Sir Humpreys of the civil service and their Ministers.
Meetings, conversations and correspondence would then become all the more difficult with the threat of public disclosure hanging over them.
Which was precisely why the rug was pulled quite so sharply from under the chief executive’s feet. Deputies used the privilege of the States chamber to mount a robust defence at least as offensive as the original attack while the minister for Commerce and Employment completed an uncomfortable two days in the chamber with an apology on behalf of GuernseyFinance and her department.
All of which leaves the offender in a very precarious position. Cut down by his chairman and publicly rebuked by his minister, Mr Niven must be spending the remainder of his holiday wondering what the consequences will be of hitting that send button.
That the email should have been consigned to the bin is undoubted, that it should cost the island the services of a financier who has worked hard to promote the island’s most important industry is a step too far.
Article posted on 27th November, 2009 - 2.30pm