How HR strangled Whitehall

How HR strangled Whitehall

Rishi Sunak had vowed to get the UK’s finances back in order, and I was working in the private office of the Secretary of State for Transport. My brief was rail, an area that required a not insignificant amount of funding — funding that Treasury types aren’t exactly enthusiastic about granting. Naturally, there’s haggling, the outcome of which was being relayed by my Treasury opposite number. “I’m sorry,” I said, “but I think it’ll be a hard sel…