Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office permanent under-secretary Sir Olly Robbins has told staff that resigning from the civil service is their ultimate move if they have “profound” disagreements with the UK’s policy on the Gaza war.
Robbins’ comments came in response to more than 300 officials at the department who wrote to foreign secretary David Lammy last month, setting out concerns over the government's Gaza policy.
Staff had expressed support for some steps taken by Labour since the party assumed power last year. But they also sought support for five recommendations, including “using all available levers to prevent Israel from further breaching international law” and establishing a challenge mechanism at the FCDO to “encourage a ‘speak-up’ culture”.
A response to the letter written by Robbins and second perm sec Nick Dyer, published last week by left-wing website Novara Media, provides staff with a “helpful” reminder of their options if they are uncomfortable with government policy.
Those options include familiarisation with the checks-and-balances built into policymaking, the potential for redeployment if an area of work causes “direct difficulty” because of personal or family circumstances, and recourse to protections afforded by the civil service code.
Ultimately, the response says civil servants have the option of quitting if they cannot overcome their opposition to a policy.
“Whether or not you work directly on the policy area in question, if your disagreement with any aspect of government policy or action is profound your ultimate recourse is to resign from the civil service,” Robbins and Dyer wrote. “This is an honourable course.”
The letter continues: “There is no problem with having critical views of aspects of government policy as a serving civil servant. But the bargain at the heart of the British civil service is that we sign up to deliver the policies of the day wholeheartedly, within the limits imposed by the law and the civil service code.
“We are proud that this department is doing so professionally, even where those policies are the subject of substantial and legitimate public scrutiny and debate.”
The May 16 letter sent by FCDO staff followed up on an earlier communication in July last year, three weeks after the Labour Party’s general election victory.
The latest letter said that in the intervening period, the “reality of Israel’s disregard for international law” in relation to the conflict had “become more stark”, with the killing of aid workers and starvation in Gaza.
“It is clear the UK could be doing more to bring an end to this humanitarian disaster, ensuring our compliance with international law,” it said.
In a statement issued to Novara, an FCDO spokesperson said: “One of this government’s first acts was to review and suspend export licences that could be used by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza. We have continued to call for the Israeli government to stop its military operations there and immediately allow humanitarian aid to enter.”