Britain’s civil service remains upper-middle class
Not so much has changed since the 1960s, a new report says
THE KEY, thought John Fulton, was to do away with the dominance of Oxbridge-educated generalists and promote officials with technical skills. It was 1968, and Harold Wilson, the Labour prime minister, worried that Whitehall was too institutionally conservative. He had commissioned the Fulton report with the aim of forging Britain into a science-fuelled meritocracy. One enraged traditionalist declared his preference to be ruled by men who had read Plato and Shakespeare rather than by nuclear scientists.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “The servant class”
Britain May 22nd 2021
- Britain’s economy is hot but not overheating
- A coronavirus variant is spreading in Britain—but this time is different
- Two unionist parties are under new management
- London is likely to get a swanky new theatre
- Why the best farmland in Britain has become cheap
- Britain’s civil service remains upper-middle class
- A covid-19 inquiry will scrutinise the British state
- How to do foreign policy in a multi-ethnic society
From the May 22nd 2021 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Britain
What an arcane piece of aviation law says about Britain’s government
The parable of the slots
London’s pie-and-mash shops are disappearing
Blame higher rents and changing tastes
Britain’s family courts are opening up to reporters
Transparency and privacy can work together
Has the Royal Navy become too timid?
A new paper examines how its culture has changed
A plan to reorganise local government in England runs into opposition
Turkeys vote against Christmas