British Civil Servant

v2 Chapter 1541: verbal war

A wholesale denial of post-war consensus politics and the policies of Labour's long-standing government is, of course, soul-stirring to say but not so easy to do.

Although the current policies are being implemented, it is true that it will not be so easy. Even the ministers she appointed were not necessarily all supporters.

For example, the idea of ​​reducing spending by 4 billion pounds, but also because this budget cut does not include the army and the police, otherwise it can be said to offend everyone.

Apart from maintaining or even increasing the original budget of violent agencies, housing, education, energy, employment, transportation, foreign aid, and industries have all been drastically cut.

This made Alan Wilson very busy. He held meetings with various departments for seventeen or eight days to explain Mrs. Thatcher's policies. "Civil servants must think about the country. If I don't cut it, who will cut it?"

"Secretary-General, it's easy for you to say. This is four billion pounds, not forty million, covering many departments." Frank almost jumped up, "We have to find a way."

"Oh, Frank, if you can't handle the Chancellor why do you believe I can handle the Prime Minister?"

Alan Wilson directly asked a rhetorical question, and then began to express his merits, "I'm trying to find a way, the Price Management Committee was sent to Rhodesia to continue working, and not everyone is willing to go. The department with thousands of people is like that It’s hard to handle, let alone other departments.”

"Secretary-General, the international situation makes diplomatic work extremely important." Wick opened his mouth to defend his department, trying to stay out of this cut.

"Okay, Wick, I also agree with this. The international situation is not calm, and the interests of the British Empire spread all over the world. I also said that to Sir Norman in your position." Alan Wilson shook his hand Said, "However, the importance of the current diplomatic work cannot be overemphasized."

Just as Makins was about to speak, Alan Wilson stopped him directly with his eyes, "Sir Sheffield, don't come out to join in the fun, the Ministry of Defense is not on the list of spending cuts at all."

As an old subordinate, Dixon also wants to fight for the interests of his department, while Alan Wilson is not as easy to talk as before, "The Ministry of Education will inevitably make sacrifices this time. In fact, we all know that those very prestigious Scholars and professors are actually the best to deal with, but they are just a group of characters kneeling and punching. If they speak too clearly, they may offend people, but when it comes to drastic reforms, who will really take them seriously? "

A scholar failed to rebel for three years, can he curse someone to death? What's more, Mrs. Thatcher is not afraid of scolding at all. Don't forget that she was the Minister of Education. In order to save money, she canceled the breakfast milk for students in the UK.

The Ministry of Education should take the overall situation into consideration. Although Alan Wilson is very sympathetic to the situation of the Ministry of Education, from a realistic point of view, the Ministry of Education should be used to be sacrificed. Not only Alan Wilson thinks so, but also the executive deputy ministers of other departments Thought.

If you want to curse the Prime Minister, just curse, people who happen to be engaged in education can expect this, Alan Wilson then turned to the Ministry of the Interior, "Brest, you must be mentally prepared. The Ministry of the Interior is the department with the largest number of people, although The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are also known as the three major ministries, but the combined number of these two departments cannot be compared with the Ministry of the Interior. Your department’s staff and expenditure are so large, I don’t tell you that you understand.”

"I understand the truth, but if it doesn't happen to me, of course you can pretend it's okay." Brest said with a wry smile, "Because of the large number of people in the department, there are also many people who will be offended by real actions."

"It's better to start from the beginning. I heard that a TV series is being produced. It seems to be mocking us. As for the principles of democracy and neutrality, we will never exert any pressure, but cut funding is a decision made by the prime minister. There’s nothing wrong with us standing up for it.”

Alan Wilson smiled and said, "Actually, we should really keep pace with the times. The British Empire gave them everything they needed, and then they made some vulgar jokes against us? The influence of the British media is going from bad to worse. It must be there. problem."

Brest was taken aback for a moment, and then nodded solemnly, "Maybe we should make it clear that the subsidies given by the government are not for nothing, and they should show us some achievements in return."

The permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Employment is the former ambassador to France, George Blake. After fulfilling the duties of the ambassador to France, this diamond was thrown into the Ministry of Employment by Alan Wilson. On the one hand, that department is relatively unimportant, and on the other On the one hand, it is also preparing for Mrs. Thatcher's coming to power.

Now is obviously the time. Mrs. Thatcher is now promoting privatization reforms. The employment data is not in the important reference data of this government at all. The employment rate is not important anymore. Naturally, the Ministry of Employment should reduce the public In the budget.

The Ministry of Housing has the same treatment as the Ministry of Employment. Public housing will be privatized and sold. The work pressure of the Ministry of Housing has also been greatly reduced, so it is also in the process of budget cuts.

Alan Wilson looked at Frank at this time and asked, "How much difference is there? Can it meet the requirements of the cabinet?"

"There are still 800 million pounds." Frank simply calculated and replied, "Do you want all departments to share the remaining share?"

"In this way, the Prosperity Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund will share a part, and Malaya and Xiangjiang will subscribe for a certain share, so that's it." Alan Wilson said with a long breath, "The meeting is over."

Finally, the budget cuts were settled. Alan Wilson went directly to No. 10 Downing Street to report the issue to the Prime Minister. Mrs. Thatcher said meaningfully, "Sir, it seems that Whitehall still has great potential."

"If the prime minister thinks it's easy, it may not be true." Alan Wilson said with a heavy heart. "This is an offending job, and the avoidance of various departments is understandable. It can be said that Whitehall has already done what it can do." Everything, just the current inflation problem, cannot always be solved by scolding the previous government."

How to say this method of blaming the previous government, some people can use it and some can't, just like the king of understanding can use it, but the king of sleep can't use it.

Alan Wilson believes that Mrs. Thatcher is much more ruthless than those politicians in the Labor Party, but if there is no result for a long time, the tactic of throwing the blame is useless.

"Sir, I can't solve all the problems in Britain right away. It will always take time." Mrs. Thatcher seemed to have been stepped on the tail all of a sudden, and wanted to prove her ability in front of this man, "I can solve the problem." It's me, not you, otherwise you wouldn't have done nothing for so many years."

Alan Wilson felt extra emotions, stared into the Prime Minister's eyes, took two deep breaths and said, "Prime Minister, can you not bring your personal emotions into your work."

From the perspective of the supreme authority, Mrs. Thatcher obviously still remembers the past when she took the rocket. It has been so many years. The two are already the secretary-general of the cabinet and the prime minister. Can't they be more open-minded?

If it wasn't for the off-duty time, in terms of the atmosphere just now, the two might have had a verbal confrontation, clarifying the question of who has paid a lot for the country.

The secretary-general of the cabinet has always left work on schedule, but it does not mean that he has forgotten his differences with the prime minister. At this time, Alan Wilson felt that he should have a good talk with this woman about the future of Britain. What kind of future is Mrs Thatcher asking for?

Alan Wilson, who came to No. 10 Downing Street the next day, directly ordered people not to disturb his conversation with the prime minister before entering the prime minister's office. If a minister came to the prime minister, he would call first.

The two discussed international issues, domestic issues, and military diplomacy. Alan Wilson said seriously, "I have always hoped that the UK will become a high-tech manufacturing power, but now it is. My Prime Minister, you Industrial war, I am very much in favor of it, but it seems that the country has never specified what should be done after the workers are rendered unemployed~lightnovelpub.net~?"

"Shouldn't the country keep supporting them for job training?" Mrs. Thatcher replied without thinking, "Britain is not the Soviet Union."

"What kind of job training, if you think British industry is not enough to bring prosperity to Britain, at least let the unemployed workers have a place to go?" Alan Wilson spread his hands, "But you didn't do anything, unemployment is Unemployed. And there is no industry that can provide employment for the UK. Should those unemployed workers be kept on welfare?"

Alan Wilson's question was not answered. Apparently, Mrs. Thatcher never thought about this question. Historically, Mrs. Thatcher turned all the cuts in spending and the funds collected from the sale of state-owned enterprises into relief funds for unemployed workers.

Thatcher's reforms did little to reduce spending, except to turn public spending into unemployment benefits.

Facing the prime minister's silence, Alan Wilson didn't show any sympathy, "You criticize the Soviet Union for plotting a coup in Afghanistan, what's the use of talking about it? Huh?"

When Mrs. Thatcher came to power, it coincided with the Soviet Union planning a coup in Afghanistan. Mrs. Thatcher not only criticized, but also took economic sanctions against the Soviet Union.

Neither Germany nor France imposes economic sanctions. The most important thing is that the Carter administration has not yet spoken. Why does the UK jump so high?

"You go, I don't want to see you." Facing Alan Wilson's accusation, Mrs. Thatcher directly uttered outrageous words.

As soon as the voice fell, the phone on the table rang. Before Thatcher answered the phone, Alan Wilson picked up the receiver and listened for a while, and then said, "Let the Chancellor of the Exchequer wait a while, I haven't finished talking with the Prime Minister." Putting the microphone back in place, Alan Wilson met the Prime Minister's shocked gaze.