I tend to think their viewpoints are coherent. Both observe that the civil service is an unaccountable nightmare. Dom imagines that making them obey the elected officials would improve things, Jen imagines that severing them from the electoral interference would improve things. Both would plausibly be an improvement. The common factor is imagining a civil service that worked like everything else.
I don’t think either can be implemented. Dom’s desire is romantic, but runs against human nature (why would whitehall take on responsibility when it can just destroy him and his political masters, as it obviously did). Jen’s desire is fanciful, the ossification that she rails against is exactly part of the accountability sink.
If you had a genie, you’d grant Dom’s wish before Jen’s, but neither is actionable.
I tend to think their viewpoints are coherent. Both observe that the civil service is an unaccountable nightmare. Dom imagines that making them obey the elected officials would improve things, Jen imagines that severing them from the electoral interference would improve things. Both would plausibly be an improvement. The common factor is imagining a civil service that worked like everything else.
I don’t think either can be implemented. Dom’s desire is romantic, but runs against human nature (why would whitehall take on responsibility when it can just destroy him and his political masters, as it obviously did). Jen’s desire is fanciful, the ossification that she rails against is exactly part of the accountability sink.
If you had a genie, you’d grant Dom’s wish before Jen’s, but neither is actionable.