STEVE BLOOMFIELD
A few weeks before Priti Patel resigned as International Development Secretary, I spoke to a longserving official in her department. He was tired, frustrated and had just decided to quit. “I just don’t know what we’re doing anymore,” he said. The department he was leaving was not the one he had joined. Development experts had been overlooked for promotion, while fast-track civil service graduates with no overseas experience were being groomed for top positions. Indeed, increasing numbers of senior officials had never been based abroad. Dozens of experienced staff had already left this year.