ADC 2019: Stop attacking civil servants

FDA members at this year’s Annual Delegate Conference (ADC) sent a clear message to those who seek to undermine the civil service for their own political agenda: stop attacking civil servants.
Delegates voted unanimously for a motion calling on the Government and party leaders to take action against those who attack the civil service from within their parties.
Following the vote, FDA General Secretary Dave Penman wrote to the leaders of all the main political parties, asking for their support in bringing an end to the relentless attacks on the impartiality and integrity of the civil service, and on individual civil servants.

He explained: “These are not the ill-judged remarks of a minister in the cross hairs of the media. The attacks we are seeing now are deliberate, considered and coordinated attempts to undermine the trust in the civil service.
“It is the weapon of choice for many in the European Research Group (ERG), Leave Means Leave and assorted fellow travellers. Ideologically obsessed and willing to sacrifice public trust in government to advance their cause – to them no principle is sacrosanct, no individual civil servant is unexpendable. We have already seen individuals singled out and receive death threats.
“We even witnessed cries of ‘shoot him’ from the audience at the mention of the name Olly Robbins – the Prime Minister’s Europe Adviser – during a speech by the ERG’s Mark Francois. Shame on Francois, shame on his enablers in the ERG and shame on all those politicians who have indulged in ‘traitor’ tropes to progress their narrow political agenda.”
The FDA General Secretary also stressed that this issue isn’t isolated to the right of politics, with influential figures on the left such as Lord Adonis accusing the civil service of “being the enablers of Brexit” and others painting civil servants as “establishment lackeys who’ll frustrate a future Labour government”.

Guest speaker Hillary Benn MP, Chair of the Exiting the European Union Commons Select Committee, echoed these thoughts, telling delegates: “Attacks on civil servants are unacceptable. For MPs to criticise civil servants rather than politicians of their own party – that is completely unacceptable. Abuse, threats and intimidation are unacceptable. Our democracy is damaged by such behaviour.”
Throughout ADC delegates also reinforced this message on social media, sharing pictures of themselves with our “Stop attacking the civil service” placards using #FDAADC19.
Related News
-
FDA attends TUC LGBT Conference and London Pride
To mark the end of Pride Month, FDA delegations attended the TUC LGBT+ Conference and Pride in London.
-
FDA attends unveiling of plaque in honour of first female civil servant Jeanie Senior
The FDA attends the unveiling of a plaque in honour of Britain’s first female civil servant, Jeanie Senior, which took place at Battersea Town Hall. The plaque was funded by the FDA and the Battersea Society, with the unveiling event arranged by local historian and writer Jeanne Rathbone.
-
FDA attends Irish Congress of Trade Unions Biennial Delegates Conference in Belfast
Building on the FDA’s increased presence in Northern Ireland (NI), this week the FDA’s National Officer for NI Robert Murtagh has been attending the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Biennial Delegates Conference in Belfast, with General Secretary Dave Penman also in attendance as an observer.