Prospect condemns Arron Banks for violent civil service comments

Prospect has condemned senior Reform figure Arron Banks after he used extremely violent language to describe the approach Reform should take to the civil service if it wins power.

In an interview with the FT, Banks compared Reform’s approach to the civil service with the Bolshevik murders of intellectuals in 1917, saying:

“The Communists took a third of the intelligentsia out and shot them in a car park, and I always thought what a waste. But now I think actually, they had a point.”

He also called for the party to “radically cut away at” the civil service if it wins power.

Prospect General Secretary Mike Clancy said:

“Civil servants do incredible work on behalf of the public whichever government is in power, work which is often unappreciated by those who do not understand it.

“It isn’t surprising that someone like Arron Banks who has no understanding of the complexity of government wants to see large civil service job cuts, but it is shocking that anyone in politics would use such dangerously violent language to attack dedicated public servants.

“We need less of this poison in our political debate, and if Reform are in any way serious about forming a government they should distance themselves from these disgraceful comments immediately.”