HeyJaredMartin Stanley’s Substack
Authoritative information and comment about the UK civil service
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 6
- Latest publication
- Sep 10, 2026
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- Jul 11, 2026
Latest issues
Could AI really wipe out mankind in the next decade? (opens the original)
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There was a time, not that long ago, when some lobby groups and some regulators adored the precautionary principle. This principle is derived from society’s strong desire to be ‘better safe than sorry’ particularly in the case of potentially catastrophic new risks. Urgent regulation might therefore be needed whilst a serious new danger is assessed, and experience gained.But others saw it as a wimpy European approach which held up progress in industries such as pharmaceuticals and GM crops. (If y
Embarrassing Ambassadors (opens the original)
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One pleasure denied to modern civil servants is the opportunity to read the ‘valedictory’ despatches of ambassadors about to leave their overseas posts. The despatches were not supposed to be published and generally weren’t. They were therefore candid and indiscrete as well as including perceptive commentary and analysis.But their contents were sometimes so remarkable that they were leaked.Leaking was difficult in the days before email and social media. But Sir Nicholas (‘Nico’) Henderson’s 1979
Should Experts be 'On Top' or 'On Tap'? (opens the original)
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Those commenting on Dame Antonia’s current review of the Civil Service hoped that it would tackle several longstanding cultural weaknesses, many of which have been identified time and time again by the Institute for Government and many other think tanks. Foremost among these has been ‘the cult of the amateur’ – the belief (of those at the top) that people with specific, relevant expertise (qualifications and experience other than civil service administration) should be ‘on tap but not on top’.</
Andy Burnham should be Inspired by Clement Attlee (opens the original)
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I am very pleased to be able to publish this interesting article by Christopher Jary1 who - as you will see - gave good advice to a younger Andy Burnham:-And so we have a new Prime Minister, who tells us he is looking to Neil Kinnock as his inspiration. He could do much worse. We must never forget that in the 1980s Kinnock bravely led for the first miles along the long, bumpy road to making a dysfunctional Labour Party electable once again.<s
Andy Burnham Talks to Civil Servants - and El Nino (opens the original)
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Here are three thoughts whilst we wait for Andy Burnham to reveal his new Cabinet.First, Ailbhe Rea yesterday drew attention (on Sky News) to the fact that Andy Burnham’s ‘accession talks’ with senior departmental officials have (of necessity) not involved their various future Secretaries of State – nor the new Chancellor. If he has used the talks effectively, therefore, our new PM will have given each department a strong steer to which the incoming Secretaries of State will to some extent find
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