Ministerial post 'dehumanising' for Digby Jones

Digby Jones - the most prominent of the 'goats' (government of all the talents) elevated to the House of Lords and made into ministers by Gordon Brown - has just butted those he once worked with.

The former Trade Minister Lord Jones told the Commons Public Administration Committee that the job of junior minister was "one of the most dehumanising and depersonalising experiences a human being can have".

He described the civil service as honest and stuffed full of decent people who work hard, but he believed there were too many of them:

"Frankly the job could be done with half as many. It could be more productive, more efficient, it could deliver a lot more value for money for the taxpayer. And the levers of change, the ability to affect change are so rare, because of the culture. I was amazed how many people frankly deserved the sack, and yet that was the one threat that they never ever worked under because it doesn't exist as long as they're being not criminal or whatever."

Ouch.