Uncivil servants?
Page 55
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Director-general of the Institute of Directors, Walter Goldsmith, who followed Ken Rogers on the toast list at the RHA annual dinner, was repeatedly applauded as he castigated everyone in sight. Employers {"moaners and groaners"), civil servants, nationalised undertakings, and unions all felt the lash of his tongue.
His audience obviously shared his contempt for civil servants. They were, he said, "diligent enough when it comes to inconveniencing their follow citizens in disruptive action to further line their own pockets.
"They have fertile enough imaginations when it comes to increasingly desperate attempts to cripple various parts of the economy, whether in tax collection, air transport, or, most disgracefully of all, national defence.
"They are second to none in the protection of their job security, index-linked pensions, longer holidays, more generous sick leave and protection from redundancy which no one in the private sector shares. But when it comes to making effective investment or strategic busi decisions, their record is nor short of catastrophic."
Walter Goldsmith's si ments were echoed by a re of The Times who protestec Customs and Excise men at don airport were sabotagin, port trade by delaying air fre They certainly seemed to no compunction about pu other people's jobs at risk further to improve their well-padded lot.