Criticism is not (necessarily) cynicism, and, as noted, being ‘liked’ does not equate to efficiency or effectiveness at work.

On re-reading the comments so far I don’t think anyone has actually accused Marek of anything - but perhaps I’ve missed something.

As to camping - well some are obviously more familiar than others with camp issues.

I doubt that many of today’s senior civil servants would display the levels of personal courage and integrity of their illustrious predecessors. This is one of the sad effects of the monstrous policisation of their posts.

It’s a bit stupid that I can be accused of bias just because I’ve worked with someone in the past. We’re not best mates, I don’t go golfing with him, I haven’t married his daughter. I just think he’s good at what he does.

A quick dose of perspective. Gus (or ‘Gussy-wussy’ as I always call him on our long camping holidays) is a Permanent Secretary in the civil service. This is not something that one becomes overnight as the result of Blair/Brown favouritism. Sure, he’s well-liked in the Government, but that’s because he does a good job. He was well-liked by the Tories, too (he was Major’s press secretary).

Cynicism will eat itself, you know. Don’t come crying to me when a fascist takes over.

How did we guess that you were connected? The appointment doesn’t change a thing and especially so with the current government who appear to run a merry go round or should that be gravy train for a select few - or maybe they don’t know anybody else? At least your friend is new but his appointment will not change a thing - sorry for you.

Whether the man is worth this salary (or double) remains to be seen - and I suppose that depends on what he does - but it’s heartening to see that (one of) those acquainted with Gus is convinced of his eminent worthiness and suitability. Note that if he were working in the commercial field his future and tenure of office might be just a touch less assured. I don’t see many civil servants being ejected by the executive board and/or shareholders. And the benefits and value to us all of the Home Civil Service are regrettably a matter for conjecture.

Nice to see that someone is actually (if, partially) reading this stuff, nontheless.

I’ve worked with Gus O’Donnell in the past, and I have a lot of respect for him. He’s much more active and down-to-earth than Andrew Turnbull. As for the salary, I think he’d come cheap at double the price.

yes but these people you mention actually DO something don’t they - and they are held responsible - now how do you rate the new man and his salary?

He is Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service (all 500,000 of them), so I don’t suppose he’ll be playing Minesweeper all day. What do company Chief Executives ‘do’?

"Can we really justify a quarter of a million salary on this?"

Well, Dr. Klaus Kleinfeld, the CEO of Siemens (also with about 500,000 staff), gets paid US$2.3m per year, plus share options. Rick Wagoner (General Motors, also about 500,000 staff) was paid $13m last year, with another $12m in unexercised stock options. \xA3250,000 max seems like rather a bargain, to be honest.

So the PMOS does not deny that Birt may have been involved, but does apparently deny that Brown was consulted prior to O’Donnell’s appointment. No 10 up to its usual tricks then.

Even so, there’s no indication as to what O’Donnell will actually be doing for his chunky remuneration. Sort of ‘make the job up as you go along’ stuff.

Can we really justify a quarter of a million salary on this?