The British civil service faces a great Brexit challenge

The civil service of the United Kingdom seems to be in poor shape. It has been eroded since the Fulton Report half a century ago, which criticised the skills and the professionalism of civil servants. Civil service numbers have also been under intense scrutiny ever since Margaret Thatcher’s efficiency unit was established in 1979. Overall, civil service employment has been more than halved since the end of the 1940s. Austerity has hit most government departments.

Now, the service faces the daunting task of negotiating the UK’s departure from the European Union. And its state of