Guardian: Civil servants' leader attacks 'utterly dysfunctional' government

Jonathan Baume, head of the FDA union, the man who represents the most senior civil servants in Whitehall, described an atmosphere in Whitehall where the government continues to plan new policies while mandarins are looking at what they could cut from budgets to achieve the 17% three-year reductions widely thought to be necessary. Some departments with big capital spending budgets, such as transport, are looking at up to 30%. He said Whitehall departments, which are constitutionally required to serve the government of the day, were informally starting to prepare for a Conservative government. Most have set up de facto shadow departments to consider how Conservative policy might be implemented, and how to reduce spending.