Exclusive: civil servant who gave anonymous interview to BBC about Afghan withdrawal says service ‘dangerously politicised’
A whistleblower who revealed Britain’s chaotic response to the fall of Kabul has said the civil service has become so dangerously politicised that officials who speak out risk being sidelined or sacked.
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Josie Stewart said her former colleagues felt their role was to protect ministers, some of whom were only interested in “looking good”, rather than working in the interests of the public.
The former senior official at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is now taking the government to court to test legal protections for whistleblowers amid concerns they are not sufficient to protect civil servants who share sensitive information in the public interest.
Stewart, who was head of illicit finance at the department, is challenging her dismissal with the Public Interest Disclosure Act after she was sacked for giving an anonymous interview to the BBC about the government’s handling of the chaotic Afghan withdrawal.
In her first interview since she lost her job, she said that the government’s Afghan withdrawal strategy had been shaped by political concerns back home, with ministers more focused on media coverage and “the political fallout” than saving lives.
Her intervention will increase the pressure on Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary at the time, who is currently fighting for his political...
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