It is one thing to glimpse the inner workings of government during extraordinary times. But it is another, and many times more telling, to gain a glimpse of the workings of government at – relatively – ordinary moments. This is what the first tranche of released papers relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as HM ambassador to the United States has provided, and it should provide more food for thought than it probably will.

The old boys’ network may have died a death but there are plenty of ways to elevate people into high-paying or prominent positions on the public payroll

The old boys’ network may have died a death but there are plenty of ways to elevate people into high-paying or prominent positions on the public payroll

Take, for a start and most obviously, the way that top appointments are made. For all that Sir Keir Starmer assured the House of Commons that ‘full due process’ had been followed, it clearly had not – or rather, it depends on what ‘full due process’ really means. It seems the approximate form had been followed, but not as it would apply to ordinary mortals, or even rank and file civil servants. Standard processes were accelerated, abbreviated, or ignored. A sort of due diligence was conducted but then its findings were largely ignored.  What this confirms is what almost anyone who has had anything to do with the workings of power in this country knows: there are rules for some and not others. The old boys’ network may have died a death – though some would contest that – but there are plenty of ways to elevate people into high-paying or prominent positions on the public payroll. The government (any government) is not such a stickler for formality and rigorous selection as it would have you believe.Nor should the government, or anyone else, be allowed to get away with suggesting that the way........

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