Sunday 11 September 2022 04:28 PM Top Treasury Mandarin is SACKED by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng trends now
The top civil servant at the Treasury has been sacked by the new Liz Truss government.
Sir Tom Scholar was removed by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in one of his first acts on taking office last week.
Ms Truss has previously railed against 'Treasury orthodoxy' and the decision to get rid of Sir Tom, on the first day of her new Government, was seen as a signal of her determination to change the direction of economic policy.
But the decision, coming as ministers grapple with how to see off a winter of discontent amid soaring inflation and bills, has been criticised.
Lord Butler, who served as cabinet secretary under Margaret Thatcher, Sir John Major and Sir Tony Blair, warned the actions of the new administration could 'corrupt' the system of government.
The peer strongly condemned the sacking saying it was 'very unusual and very regrettable'.
'If there was ever a time we needed experience and continuity, which is what the Civil Service provides, it is now,' he told BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend.
'We have a new sovereign, we have a new Prime Minister and we really need the cement that can hold this system together.
Sir Tom Scholar was removed by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in one of his first acts on taking office last week.
Ms Truss has previously railed against 'Treasury orthodoxy' and the decision by the Chancellor to get rid of Sir Tom, on the first day of her new Government, was seen as a signal of her determination to change the direction of economic policy.
