Purdah… is what it's all about. Amid growing resentment of the power of Brussels and the EU — which is not just contained within the UK — the head of the British Civil Service, Sir Jeremy Heywood, has suggested the referendum promised by UK Prime Minister David Cameron may deteriorate into a farce in the last few days of the referendum campaign.
Sir Jeremy Heywood, the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, is an arrogant toad. 'How very dare you!'
— Brian McC (@bmc875) July 21, 2015
Sir Jeremy Heywood says "I'm not getting into hypothetical arguments" while using hypothetical argument to make case to scrap purdah #EURef
— Robert Oxley (@roxley) July 21, 2015
The UK has had a long-running love-hate relationship with Europe. Cameron was forced to promise an In/Out referendum on the country's EU membership in the run-up to the 2015 general election, to assuage anti-European members of his own party and to stave off the challenge of the Eurosceptic UK Independence Party, which eventually won 12.6 percent of the share of vote, coming third, behind the Conservatives and Labour.
Cameron is staking his claim on continued membership of a 'reformed' EU, but critics are worried that he may use his position as prime minister to use his government — ministries run by, officially non-political civil servants — to pump up the volume for a campaign to stay in the EU.
Not sure Dave has that much influence! #Brexit http://t.co/heUSKmIw55 pic.twitter.com/QMLYereTc0
— John M Knox (@johnmknox) July 13, 2015
Pressure has been growing on the UK civil service to prove that it will stand by the principle of 'purdah' in the 28 days ahead of the date of the referendum. This is a principle — based on the Muslim and Hindu practice of separation of women from men or strangers. In practice, it means that those working for the government must not seek to apply politically-slanted views ahead of the vote.
"Very Worrying" Legal Advice
However, appearing before members of parliament Tuesday, Heywood said he had been given "very worrying" legal advice that suggested — from now onwards — it would be impossible for Britain to maintain normal dialogue with Europe on issues such as the Greek bailout or any legislation at all — without being partial.
Heywood told the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee: "In a typical month you have ten or eleven ministerial councils in Brussels. In the last 28 days of the referendum campaign, let's assume there are ten, eleven or twelve of those councils, we need to make sure — in the normal course of business — that our ministers use whichever are the most potent arguments they can use to win points for Britain in those negotiations.
Jeremy Heywood: EU vote “purdah” change will not hit Whitehall impartiality http://t.co/RJxlTea6Nf pic.twitter.com/vALwNidz1p
— Civil Service World (@CSWnews) July 21, 2015
"Our legal advice is very worrying on this aspect. Unless ministers tread very carefully they may well end up using arguments in those internal EU discussions which could be construed by anyone who is litigious as bearing on those questions of the referendum."
He said ministers could face legal challenges "left, right and centre" from campaigners and said the government would "err on the side of caution" because "you can't allow that sort of legal uncertainty to hover over the last stages of a hugely significant referendum".
