Chapter 1156 Labo, Don’t Be Stupid
Of course, if Norman Brooke was thinking about this, every department would be equally important to the country, but Alan Wilson was not yet Cabinet Secretary and he was only thinking about the Foreign Office.
The current foreign-related departments are indeed very unclear in their positioning. Some are in charge of the colonies, some are in charge of the Commonwealth, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for its own work. In fact, they all do similar things.
Everyone knows that sooner or later the merger of departments will come back, and the Colonial Department will be in the most dangerous situation.
Both the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office will be retained, so the plan is also to merge the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office to form the new British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and there is no need for the Colonial Department to exist.
The new British Foreign and Commonwealth Office was fully capable of taking over the original work of the Colonial Office.
"New Delhi did not raise any objection to the telegram to India?" Alan Wilson was still more concerned about the issue of armed mediation this time, and asked Wick to continue to pay attention to the news in India.
"I have always been concerned about this issue and will inform the Deputy Secretary immediately as soon as the news comes." Wick replied simply...
"Well, that's good." Alan Wilson put his hands on his waist, stood up and took two steps back and forth, thinking about the success rate.
What he fears most is that India feels good about itself and has too much publicity from big and impressive countries, and others will not believe that it takes it seriously.
The Congress Party is a hodgepodge party with people of all kinds in it. After Patel is dead, Desai, a piss-drinking conservative leader, is also not a fuel-saving lamp and is always ready to cause trouble.
In fact, after India's defeat, Nehru encountered a series of difficult problems politically. The factional governance within the Congress Party has become increasingly superficial. Conservatives were dissatisfied with Nehru's economic policies.
The Desai faction took advantage of Nehru's decline in prestige and criticized him. Nehru started to fight back from within the party, and the opportunity was the Kamaraj Plan. Kamaraj proposed that in order to rejuvenate the Congress Party, party leaders should resign from government positions and devote all their energy to party work.
Nehru set an example, and almost all of them, including Desai, resigned. Desai was still bitter about it ten years later, believing that it was clearing the way for Indira Gandhi to take over.
Although Desai failed in the end, he would have been pleased to see the era of Modi.
Whether it was Jawaharlal Nehru, the founder of India, or Indira, who dismembered Pakistan, they were both the most unpopular in the era of Modi, which was a bad breath for him.
It's just that the old immortal's level is just like this.
Support ratings are closely aligned with Hindu nationalism. If you really encounter the problems Nehru and Indira faced, I would probably be worse than them.
Alan Wilson, who was still waiting for a formal reply from India, was thinking when the phone on his desk rang. He directly picked up the receiver and heard the voice of Norman Brooke, "Your minister's proposal has been approved by the cabinet. In principle, The Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office can be merged. Now let’s go to Whitehall to see how to arrange the future of our colleagues. Everyone is very concerned about it, and I hope you can make a reliable commitment.”
"Sir Norman, I'll be there soon." Alan Wilson didn't dare to neglect after hearing this and was ready to go out.
Although the minister has not returned, this phone call has shown that it should be a done deal. A major event like merging departments is related to the future of a large number of civil servants. Alan Wilson must come up with a decent plan.
"The scale of overseas assets is getting larger and larger, and it requires colleagues to work together to manage it. After the Colonial Department has completed its historical mission, our colleagues' journey is not over yet."
Alan Wilson arrived at No. 70 Whitehall, and after explaining the basic policy to Norman Brooke, he came up with a prepared plan regarding the personnel diversion issue after the merger of foreign-related departments.
After the integration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will further take back power and transform it into professional external responsibilities, completely cancel the colonial department's authority over micro-management practices and specific approval matters in the colonies, and gradually transform its main functions into the formulation and research of macro-planning.
When merging foreign-related departments, the reform must be carried out in conjunction with the reform of public institutions. According to their functions, some public institutions will be transformed into enterprises or civil organizations, and some will be transformed into administrative agencies, and at the same time merged into government departments.
Specific public institutions, that is, overseas enterprises under the jurisdiction of the Overseas Assets Management Committee, will bear the main responsibility for personnel transfer. At the micro level, the specific benefits of colleagues who were laid off due to the Colonial Department will remain unchanged and they will continue to work according to their previous benefits.
"Operations in the Middle East and Far East should be strengthened, and management should be strengthened in order to focus on overseas interests and enter a virtuous cycle. The more people there are, the greater the benefits the UK will receive. As for the specific benefits..."
Alan Wilson was full of himself and handed the whole plan into the hands of Norman Brooke, and the whole plan was professional.
This is also normal. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to annex other foreign-related departments, and it is no longer a day or two. The relevant plans have been revised countless times, and they are absolutely prepared.
"Very good, Allen, you are indeed reliable." Norman Brooke nodded with satisfaction and expressed cautious approval of this mature plan for personnel offloading. "Actually, we are not against streamlining the organization. On the contrary, we have always been in favor of it. .”
"Of course, everyone in Great Britain knows about the high integrity of my colleagues." Alan Wilson nodded.
"What we oppose is a hasty, immature, unprofessional plan that was put forward by a minister who didn't know what he was doing before. This point must be emphasized." Norman Brook took a sip from the cup. Shui continued, "You have to understand that hundreds of thousands of civil servants are looking at us expectantly."
"I never dare to neglect the responsibilities I shoulder." Alan Wilson straightened his back, as if he was inspired by supreme authority to stand up for a glorious cause at any time.
Alan Wilson has no jealousy at all, and everything he does is for the benefit of the country. His high integrity is eye-catching. At least Norman Brooke is very satisfied. This kind of consideration takes into account all aspects.
Civil servants are the cornerstone of the British Empire, and the cornerstone should not be weakened. Only when the cornerstone is strong can Britain develop well. Norman Brooke firmly believes in this and hopes that other colleagues can understand this.
"Very well, the cabinet agrees in principle to merge the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Commonwealth Affairs, but I don't need to say more about the benefits of concentrating power in the diplomatic field. As the Permanent Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, you know it very well."
Norman Brook pondered for a while and said, "In the future, it will be your job to formulate... I am talking about assisting the minister in formulating foreign policy. I know that you have been worried about the Commonwealth Games recently. Is there anything you need help with? "
"Dear Sir, I have no problem." Alan Wilson replied simply. "It is my duty to build a diverse bridge of communication between the British Empire and the Commonwealth countries. Of course, I never care about personal interests. This is obvious to all in Whitehall... …”
"Of course, absolutely not!" Norman Brook said with a smile, "It's just that as the standing deputy secretary of a department, you always have to think about my colleagues and do things for them, so you have to take responsibility. Obviously you don't care Personal interests..."
"This is also a crime that, as a standing deputy minister, I have to bear." Alan Wilson understood immediately and answered with a sad face, "Jealous people can always find various reasons to maliciously speculate on the conspiracy in an incident. However, I am not afraid of slanting shadows, and I never care about it."
"Those ministers, political advisers, and parliamentarians will always raise various objections. It's just that the process of the cabinet meeting has to be carried out. This matter has been settled, but it needs mature time to implement it." Norman Brook said After a slight pause, he said, "Let's do this. After the Commonwealth Games, it will be officially launched. This will also give an explanation to colleagues in the Colonial Department and make them accept this matter with a more tolerant attitude."
Norman Brooke did not understand what he meant. It was his job as the permanent undersecretary to appease the Colonial Department and the Commonwealth Department, as well as the subsequent handover work.
"I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer after careful consideration." Alan Wilson promised.
At the end of the cabinet meeting, the ministers left No. 10 Downing Street. Defense Secretary Profumo and Foreign Secretary Rab Butler came out together and expressed congratulations, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will now become the only foreign-related department, not like It turns out that the Colonial Office and the Commonwealth Office are involved, holding each other back, so I believe the efficiency will be greatly improved."
"Profumo, I think the most important thing is that when formulating foreign policy, we can consider issues more macroscopically, rather than like before, in some places, we adopt one attitude, and the Commonwealth Office adopts another attitude. I We also need to reach a consensus with the Minister of Commonwealth Affairs before we can come up with policies.”
"It does have this advantage. Affairs are generally connected." Profumo nodded in approval, "This can save a lot of energy. I believe the officials of your Ministry of Foreign Affairs are also satisfied."
"Everyone cooperates with each other, so that I can save a lot of energy when formulating foreign policy." Rab Butler said with satisfaction. He was very satisfied with the merger of departments this time.
Do you set foreign policy? Profumo raised his eyebrows and said in an incomprehensible tone, "Rabo, don't be stupid."
"Dear Minister, oh, the Minister of Defense is also here." Alan Wilson appeared with a smile and greeted the two heavyweight ministers, "I have something to do about the Commonwealth Games and came to you for instructions. The time is almost up. , many teams have arrived in Kuala Lumpur, and just now we received good news that India and Portugal are open to contacts in Kuala Lumpur." To provide you with the fastest British Civil Service update, No. 1150 Chapter six of Labo, don’t be stupid and read it for free.