The FDA and the GCHQ Affair: A Prediction Made Manifest
| DOI | 10.1177/095207678900400304 |
| Date | 01 December 1989 |
| Author | Barry J. O'Toole |
| Published date | 01 December 1989 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
22
The
FDA
and
the
GCHQ
Affair:
A
Prediction
Made
Manifest
Barry
J.
O’Toole,
Loughborough
University
Several
important
events
in
the
life-time
of
Mrs.
Thatcher’s
administrations
have
served
to
reduce
the
morale
of
the
Civil
Service.
These
are
not
just
connected
with
matters
associated
with
the
Government’s
Financial
Management
Initiative,
though
there
is
no
doubt
that
the
cutbacks
forced
on
the
Civil
Service
because
of
the
initiative
have
lowered
morale.
They
are
also
connected
with
more
overt
industrial
relations
matters.
These
include
specifically
questions
about
pay,
especially
the
1981
unilateral
abolition
of
the
Pay
Research
Unit,
and
questions
about
trade
union
rights
in
the
Civil
Service,
questions
made
manifest
by
the
GCHQ
affair.
This
paper
examines
the
origins
of
the
Association
of
First
Division
Civil
Servants
(FDA),
and
analyses
the
Association’s
reaction
to
the
GCHQ
affair
in
an
attempt
to
see
if
the
Association
has
lived
up
to
the
expectations
held
about
it
that
it
would,
in
time,
become
a
trade
union.
That
question
is
important
because
the
FDA
represents
the
most
senior
managers
in
British central
government.
If
it
is
a
trade
union,
and
there
is
now
no
doubt
that
it
is,
then
it
is
yet
more
evidence
of
private
interests
playing
an
increasing
part
in
the
actions
of
public
officials
(see
Chapman
1988,
p16,
O’Toole,
1989).
This
must
be
a
cause
for
alarm
in
a
system
of
government
in
which
there
is
no
written
Constitution,
no
entrenched
Bill
of
Rights,
no
Civil
Service
Act,
and
no
enforceable
code
of
ethics
for
public
officials.
1.
The
Origins
of
the
Association
of
First
Division
Civil
Servants
The
Association
of
First
Division
Civil
Servants
was
founded
in
1918.
Its
creation
was
only
one
development
in
a
whole
range
of
changes
in
the
British
Civil
Service
in
the
period
immediately
following
the
First
World
War.
It
may
even
be
seen
as
fortuitous
for the
leaders
of
the
Service
in
that
it
helped
later
to
facilitate
trends
towards
the
more
unified
Civil
Service
envisaged
by
Sir
Warren
Fisher,
the
first
Head
of
the
Home
Civil
Service,
who
took
up
his
appointment
in
1919.
It
was
not,
however,
created
with
that
intention
in
mind.
The
Association
was,
at
its
origins,
a
voluntary
organisation
concerned
with
the
pay
and
conditions
of
its
members,
and
the
evidence
in
the
Public
Record
Office
files
indicates
quite
clearly
that
the
Treasury
was
fully
aware
of
this.
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