Starmer Pleads For ‘Total Transparency’ From Civil Servants

Keir Starmer has attempted to rebuild trust with Whitehall by sending civil servants in an email the night before polling stations opened.

The prime minister admitted “the events of the last recent weeks have felt unsettling”, alluding to his controversial decision to sack the top civil servant in the Foreign Office.

Starmer blamed Olly Robbins for giving Peter Mandelson security clearance so he could become ambassador to the US, even after the disgraced Labour peer failed vetting.

The PM claimed he was not aware security officials had advised against giving Mandelson a clean bill of health and blamed Robbins for keeping it secret.

But, in a box-office appearance before MPs, Robbins insisted the vetting process is independent of ministers and the details are not typically shared.

Clearly trying to extend an olive branch in the letter, Starmer told Whitehall officials their work is the “backbone of this country”, and that “we are one team”.

But, while writing to the half a million civil servants in the UK, the PM called on them to offer “total transparency” to ministers.

He said: “I value the ‘speaking truth to power’ that is the hallmark of our system.

“I want a culture where information flows freely, where risks are flagged early, and where we work together to solve problems before they become crises.

“The relationship between a minister and their officials relies on a bedrock of total transparency.

“Without that trust, the partnership that sits at the heart of our constitution cannot function. We are fixing the processes that have failed, but we are not changing the fundamental value we place on your role.”

His email went out hours before polls opened on Thursday.

More than 100 local councils are up for election in England, while voters in Scotland and Wales will also go to the polls for elections to Holyrood and the Senedd.

Labour are expected to fare particularly badly, as pollsters agree the central government will likely be punished for a gruelling 22 months in office.

Starmer has had a rocky relationship with Whitehall since winning the 2024 general election.

He previously shocked officials by accusing them of being “comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline”.

He later claimed he meant that the problem was not with officials themselves but that they faced “too many obstacles”.

Starmer’s pick as cabinet secretary – Chris Wormald – was also forced out as head of the civil service earlier this year and replaced by Antonia Romeo who is expected to reform the entire system.

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