Sue Gray, once known as the steely investigator at the heart of the Partygate scandal, has made her first official appearance in the House of Lords—and she didn’t hold back. Now Baroness Gray of Tottenham, the former top civil servant, used her maiden speech to issue a pointed warning to the Government about its treatment of the Civil Service.
She took direct aim at the rhetoric surrounding proposed cuts, clearly rattled by the way civil servants are being talked about. “When derogatory statements are made about them,” she said, “they hear it too.” It was a subtle but strong reminder that behind every job stat or budget cut is a person actually doing the work—often quietly, often thanklessly, reported the Standard.
The comments come hot on the heels of growing concerns over the Government’s cost-cutting plans. Reports have been swirling about “Operation Chainsaw” – a supposed codename for plans to slash the size of the Civil Service, though No. 10 has denied the label. The term, apparently inspired by Elon Musk’s aggressive cost-cutting at Twitter, isn’t exactly helping calm the nerves of staff across government departments.
Unions have warned the cuts could mean up to 50,000 job losses, with frontline services likely to bear the brunt. Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed earlier this week that Civil Service running costs are set to be slashed by 15% by the end of the decade, part of a broader effort to tighten public spending.
Baroness Gray’s message was clear: the Civil Service isn’t just spreadsheets and bureaucracy — it’s people, many of whom work miles away from the politics of Westminster. Reflecting on her own early days, she said, “Back then I worked with truly heroic and committed people, striving every day in very difficult circumstances to help people in even more challenging situations. They were the Civil Service at its best, on the front line, as far away from Whitehall’s machinations as it’s possible to be.”
It was a personal and heartfelt insight from someone who’s spent her entire career behind the scenes, not on the red benches. Since joining the Lords last month, Baroness Gray has taken on a new role in Keir Starmer’s Labour government — but her message hasn’t changed. She still believes civil servants are key to rebuilding the economy and restoring stability. “Today I see the same sort of brilliance,” she said.
“What these and other civil servants are doing is central to the Government’s and the nation’s mission to bring back growth into our economy and security to our society.” Her speech didn’t just push back against the numbers—it reminded Parliament that real people make governments work. And they’re listening.
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