Benjamin Barnard

I personally think the Prime Minister's “principal policy adviser” should not be a civil servant but be a political appointee given policy is by nature political.

After such a difficult winter for us all at the Club, that was such a special four days. 💙 Get right behind these lads this summer. It’s going to be some journey.

One does not have to be especially cynical to suspect that this is less a statement of fact than an attempt to make it one.

@JAHeale @alexlarman @TheCriticMag Also, it destroyed the cannon! There is an entire episode dedicated to Sir Humphrey’s attempts to position himself to be master of Bailey College, Oxford. And yet, Sir Humphrey laments that he wasn’t ever offered a head of college job in the play.

@alexlarman @TheCriticMag Thank you. Absolutely loathed it. Happy Easter!

To celebrate Easter, here is my latest theatre review for @TheCriticMag, of the most miserable experience I’ve had, or hope to have, in the theatre in living memory. thecritic.co.uk/issues/april-2…

This rationing mindset is the thing that’s hardest to explain to my friends from outside the UK. We’re a G7 country with an abundance of wealth and natural resources, we don’t need to act like this.

Tony Blair: We must end left’s unholy alliance with the Islamists #Echobox=1774731436" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">thetimes.com/comment/column…

This is, in fact, a particularly significant Written Parliamentary Question. If disappearing messages are enabled, the implications for compliance with a Humble Address motion are material. In this instance, Labour took months to comply, arguably only doing so after any relevant message retention periods had expired. Written Parliamentary Questions are not trivial instruments. Having helped ministers to answer thousands when I was a civil servant, I can tell you that the most innocuous on their face are often those with the greatest capacity to expose consequential issues.

Exchanges like this make you wonder whether ministerial questions couldn’t just be outsourced to ChatGPT: “Tory shadow minister Mike Wood asked Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds in the Commons earlier this year "whether No10 special advisers have auto-delete functionality turned on for (a) corporate and (b) non-corporate communication devices when discussing government business". Thomas-Symonds replied: "Corporate communications channels have auto-delete functionality enabled." And it might may well have been: as @patrickxrbaker explored in a recent “Westminster Insider” on politics and AI: politico.eu/podcast/westmi…

@cleowatson88 If he doesn’t comply, he could still be found in contempt of Parliament. This would be problematic for him in very specific circumstances. For example, if you want to be given a peerage in a PM’s resignation honours list….

Of course he doesn't! Why would you keep a record of anything incriminating? Besides, now he's not a govt employee he's not obliged to hand anything over to Parliament or the Cabinet Office.

Just some of the beautiful colours residing around the Garden at the moment. Join us for our Easter Opening on Sun 5th & Mon 6th April — a wonderful time to experience the gardens in spring seasonal colours.

Today, I launch The British Cræft Prize. A new £60,000 national award for maverick and misfit makers, technologists, designers, and engineers. Seeking inventions that fuse the deep wisdom of heritage crafts of the past with cutting-edge technologies of the future. 🧵👇

The blue skies are definitely making a difference! Join us on Easter Sunday and Monday, 5th & 6th April 2026. shop.myonlinebooking.co.uk/parham/buy.asp… Photo Credits: Garden Team

@DanNeidle This describes every single piece of legal advice I read in government. Ministers (rightly) don’t want to break the law. But I’m delighted that you can see how crap most advice is.

May be one of those cases where someone who thinks they're being very cautious ends up increasing risk rather than reducing it...

Some very silly legal advice in the Foreign Office document seeking authorisation to give Mandelson a £75k payoff...

CB and CBE are in different orders. The CB is in the Order of the Bath, traditionally used for senior civil servants and often the first step on the Bath ladder before KCB. The CBE is in the Order of the British Empire and is awarded more widely across public life. It is possible to hold both. For example, you may have been given a CBE by one committee (e.g. services to say healthcare as somebody who was previously outside the civil service, then became a civil servant). Likewise, the state committee gives plenty of CBs and CBEs so you could get both from the state committee. There is normally a time gap between awards in different orders. I find that the convention of a gap between honours magically disappears though when the civil service are desperate to get crap people out the door and give them a CB on the way out to avoid the employment tribunal. A few examples spring to mind.

Very niche honours question: some senior civil servants have CBs; some have CBEs; some even have both. Is there a distinction? (I understand the two honours are roughly the same 'seniority'.)

The Green House is truly living up to its name, showcasing a lush and vibrant display of greenery. Even as hints of other colours begin to emerge amidst the foliage, the overall effect remains impressive—especially when viewed through the gentle veil of rain.

Keir Starmer has sacked the Cabinet Secretary at the exact moment he was responsible for overseeing compliance with a Humble Address motion. Sir Chris Wormald has served governments of all colours with distinction. He is a man of supreme integrity. It is entirely legitimate for observers to question whether Starmer did not want someone of known integrity in place who would refuse to suppress or sanitise material for political convenience. Firing him at this point will fuel the belief that he was removed because he would not participate in any form of cover up. This should provoke far more outrage than it has.

There are many lions around the House and Gardens, but one of the first you encounter on entering Parham is the Coade stone lion perched on what is known as the Potato Tower (which is, in fact, a water tower).

When I told my brother I had been on a podcast called 'Looking for Growth', he said: "I know you’re obsessed with it, but your receding hairline really isn’t that interesting." Anyway, you can watch the full @lfg_uk episode with @Bexwray and @NwprtNarrative below 👇👇

NEW PODCAST EPISODE FIRST OF 2026 And it's a great one

Season 2 of the LFG Podcast is LIVE! A big thank you to @benjaminbarnard for joining us for his first ever podcast! Benjamin served as Former Policy Advisor to the Deputy PM and Minister for the Cabinet Office. Listen in to find out: - The bizarre structure of the Cabinet office - Systemic failures and shocking stories - Where does power really lie?

On Holocaust Memorial Day, we remember the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and all victims of Nazi persecution. We must learn from history’s darkest lessons and never allow it to happen again by confronting antisemitism wherever it appears.