Lord Butler, who served as cabinet secretary under Margaret Thatcher, Sir John Major and Sir Tony Blair, warned that the new administration’s moves may simply “corrupt” the governance formula.
The pair strongly condemned the dismissal of the Treasury’s most sensible official, Permanent Secretary Sir Tom Scholar, on the first day of the new administration, saying it was “very, very regrettable”.
“If we ever needed fun and continuity, what the civil service offers is now,” he told BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend.
“We have a new sovereign, we have a new prime minister and we want the cement that can hold this formula together.
“I think politicians are starting to worry about the constitution. Public service is Her Majesty’s public service. A government would not enter and on the first day would dismiss Her Majesty’s Chief of Defence Forces, the Chief of the Defence Staff.
“I think they are behaving inappropriately with the civil service. It will weaken them, but it will also corrupt our formula because it will compromise one of the wonderful benefits of having an independent and unwavering public service.
Her comments were echoed through her successor as cabinet secretary, Lord O’Donnell, who told Times Radio: “She will have to respect the civil service and civil servants and treat them with respect.
“And to be honest, the beginning, with the firing of Tom Scholar, was not as respectful as I like.
“If you want to succeed as prime minister, you have to have civil service with you. They are willing to serve the country’s democratically elected politicians. But respect has to go through both sides.
“She has to perceive that firing without realizing it and for no apparent reason, much appreciated by the chancellors of all political parties, is not a way to earn the respect of the Treasury and the public service, I am afraid. “
In the past, Ms Truss opposed “Treasury orthodoxy” and the resolution to get rid of Sir Tom, on the first day of his new government, was noted as a sign of her determination to replace the direction of economic policy. .
However, Lord Butler argued that Mrs Thatcher entered Number 10 in the same way, decided to change, but did not feel the need to get rid of the senior officials involved.
“The permanent secretary of the Treasury stayed and ensured continuity. That did not save the Thatcher government from turning the course of economic policy.
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