I think that unfortunately, many leaders within the civil service are also incompetent. Too many have spent their entire careers in the public sector and lack a genuine understanding of how business and enterprise operate. They know how to spend, and often waste, public money, but not how to generate growth or drive efficiency.
Often people in the civil service are appointed/promoted not on merit but because the tick certain boxes, so we're not necessarily getting the best talent. I've seen examples of woefully incompetent people in very senior roles. They wouldn't last 5 minutes in the private sector.
Corruption is another issue altogether. From vote-rigging to self-serving behaviour, too many within the system act in their own interests rather than the public’s. This culture of impunity mirrors what we see among politicians, making it increasingly difficult to trust either group to act responsibly.
Both the civil service and political leadership are in my opinion, in desperate need of reform. We need an independent investigation to identify and root out corruption, ensuring that those unfit for public office are removed. Sadly, I doubt this would ever happen, at least not in my lifetime.
Running a country to me should be treated like running a major corporation: focused on results, accountability, and performance, not ideology. Unfortunately, that’s not what we’re seeing today. Under Starmer’s leadership, personal ideology appears to be driving decisions rather than practical governance and in my view, he's screwing up this country.