Political showboating and civil service ennui

"Frank assessments of the dynamic within the civil service coming directly from those currently charged with watching over it are rare."

Is this a quote from Alice in Wonderland or a sardonic side-swipe? Conor Ryan’s investigative survey (June 27) of “a recently prepared document by the most senior auditors working in Government departments” tackles both sides of the dynamic.

The audit fingers ministerial ‘wanabeeism’ as destructive. The political-civil-service interface “is polluted by ministers motivated by a ‘look-at-what-I-have-delivered’ syndrome”. This is matched by the ineptitude of many within the civil service, where there is lack of performance evaluation, suspect promotion, dilatory delivery, and enquiry ennui.