Boris attacks gag on Whitehall officials

BORIS Johnson has criticised a controversial Government ruling to stop 430,000 civil servants talking to journalists.

The Mayor of London raised concerns about a change to the civil service code, quietly introduced last week, which makes it clear that officials can be sacked if they speak out before checking with a minister.

Mr Johnson, a former journalist, told the Daily Mail: ‘I believe in maximum possible transparency. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

‘Although it’s painful and difficult for politicians, it’s a bloody good thing. It does lead actually to better government.

‘I’m in favour of people being able to discuss things as freely as they can ... Most civil servants understand that there’s a difference between being useful and helping public debate, and undermining the operation that they are in.’

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has agreed to redraft guidance to ‘strengthen protection’ for those who blow the whistle on scandals or abuses of public money, and include a commitment to being ‘as open as possible’ with Parliament and the public.

However, this has failed to satisfy critics who have asked why the change to the code was brought in just before the general election campaign. The Cabinet Office insists that the amendment will not affect contacts between journalists and press officers or advisers who regularly speak to the media.

It says the change simply ‘clarifies’ current rules and that whistleblowers have legal protections.

The amendment appears have been agreed by Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood, who has been dubbed Sir Cover-Up over the long delays to the Chilcot Report into the Iraq War.

The impetus is understood to have come from ministers who wanted more control over the flow of information from their departments to make it clear that they are in charge.