Conservative chairman Greg Hands has apologised for an email sent out in Suella Braverman’s name attacking civil servants as part of an “activist blob”.
The email sent to Tory on behalf of the home secretary – which accused Whitehall officials of trying to block the small boats crackdown along with Labour and “left-wing lawyers” – sparked outraged among unions.
In a letter sent to the PCS union, which represents government staff, cabinet secretary Simon Case said the government had taken swift action to address the “error”.
Mr Case told the union he had spoken to Mr Hands “who apologised for the error” and said he takes anything “that may undermine our impartiality incredibly seriously”.
The top 10 official said: “He assured me that he has already taken action to change procedures in CCHQ (Conservative Campaign Headquarters) to make sure that there is not a repeat of this incident.”
The Tory chairman also offered “assurance that attacks on the civil service are not part of any standard CCHQ lines”, Mr Case said.
The CCHQ email sent out to supporters in Ms Braverman’s name said: “We tried to stop the small boat crossings without changing our laws. But an activist blob of left-wing lawyers, civil servants and the Labour party blocked us.”
But the home secretary insisted she did not sanction the widely criticised message, sparking an internal inquiry by CCHQ.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said the “outrageous attack” on officials over the controversial asylum crackdown were “a slur on the political impartiality of the civil service”.
FDA civil service union leader Dave Penman had also described the email as a “cowardly attack on civil servants” and called on Ms Braverman to apologise.
In his reply to the PCS, Mr Case said: “You will have seen that the home secretary has been clear that she did not see, sign off or sanction the email. She has also written to staff across the Home Office to thank them for their outstanding work on the illegal migration bill.”
CCHQ said last week that “the wording wasn’t seen by the home secretary” and was now “reviewing” its internal clearance processes.
Distancing No 10 from the remarks, Mr Sunak’s press secretary said here had been “operational issues” at CCHQ that “we’ll have to review”.
Commons leader Penny Mordaunt said last week that ministers need to “motivate” the civil service and take responsibility for their “areas”, after being asked about an email.
Ms Mordaunt said the government had to “motivate the people that we work with, whether they are in the civil service or organisations we work with”.
