The #Neurodivergent World: The Machinery (Part 4 of 4).

Who Really Runs Britain? The Permanent Government Behind Broken Britain.

Oct 14, 2025

Why nothing works in the UK: Whitehall civil service blocks everything, unelected officials outlast MPs, and UK government corruption rankings plummet. The truth about who runs Britain.

How the permanent government, military leadership, and intelligence services are staffed by neurodivergent brains selected for risk avoidance, paranoia, and control - the final part of the takedown.

Welcome to the Machinery.

In Part 1, we exposed the politicians - the narcissists, the anxious, the power-hungry, performing for cameras. In Part 2, we examined the institutions - legal systems, voting systems, mental health services, religion. In Part 3, we saw how we all cope, who profits, and why nothing changes.

But here’s what we haven’t talked about yet: the people you never see.

The civil servants drafting policies in windowless offices. The special advisors whispering in ministers’ ears. The defence chiefs controlling Britain’s military. The spies whose job description is literally “be paranoid professionally.”

These are the people who actually run the country whilst politicians perform. And their neurodivergent traits aren’t just tolerated - they’re required for the job.

Let’s talk about the machinery.

Why Nothing Works in the UK: The Truth They Don’t Want You To Know.

Here’s something about broken Britain that the politicians won’t tell you: you don’t elect the people who actually run the country.

You vote for the performance artists—the MPs doing their song and dance for the cameras, promising to fix everything. Meanwhile, the real power? That’s in the hands of the permanent government—people you’ve never heard of, never voted for, and who’ll be running things long after your MP has been tossed out on their arse.

This is why the UK government doesn’t work. Not because of incompetence (though there’s plenty of that). Because the system is designed to maintain itself, not serve you.

Welcome to Whitehall—where civil servants have perfected saying “no” in eighteen different ways, special advisors whisper in ministers’ ears with zero accountability, defence chiefs decide who dies, and spies whose job is literally “be paranoid professionally.”

This is British decline in action. And it’s by design.

The Cabinet Secretary: The Most Powerful Person You’ve Never Heard Of

Meet the Real Power in UK Government.

Sir Chris Wormald became Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service in December 2024. He’s now the most powerful person in British government that you’ve never fucking heard of.

The Institute for Government notes that Wormald—with 33 years of continuous Whitehall service—faces the challenge of Keir Starmer’s promise to deliver “nothing less than the complete rewiring of the British state.”

Good luck with that, Keir.

Because here’s what makes broken Britain permanent: the Cabinet Secretary outlasts everyone. Prime Ministers come and go. Policies change. Scandals erupt. But the Cabinet Secretary? Still there. Still controlling the machinery. Still sitting in every important meeting. Still seeing every classified document.

The Power Structure Nobody Talks About.

According to official government sources, Wormald joined the Civil Service in 1991. That’s 33 years of knowing where the bodies are buried, which policies failed, which ministers were incompetent, and which scandals got covered up.

The real power structure in Britain:

Average Prime Minister tenure: 2-5 years
Average Cabinet Secretary tenure: 4-6 years (but decades in the system)
Your vote changes the PM
Your vote doesn’t touch the Cabinet Secretary
Result: The permanent government always wins

Alex Thomas from the Institute for Government observed that despite reform promises, there’s little evidence Labour’s mission-led approach has “truly gripped Whitehall’s way of working.”

Translation: Same circus, different clowns.

This is why nothing works in the UK—we’re told we live in a democracy, but the people with actual power don’t face elections.

Whitehall Civil Service: Where Urgency Goes to Die.

How the Broken Britain Bureaucracy Actually Works.

There are currently 516,950 civil servants in the UK. These are the people who actually run things while politicians perform.

Here’s a typical exchange:

Minister (elected, accountable to voters): “People are dying. We need to act now.”

Whitehall Civil Servant (permanent, accountable to no one): “Minister, we should conduct a consultation, commission a report, convene a working group, establish clear terms of reference, assess risk implications, and review the findings in eighteen months.”

Translation: “My brain cannot handle the anxiety of moving this quickly, so I’m going to process-manage it into paralysis whilst calling it ‘proper governance.’”

And because the civil servant is permanent, and the minister will be shuffled out in two years? The civil servant always wins.

This is why the UK government doesn’t work.

Even MPs and Civil Servants Know Whitehall Is Broken.

A 2025 YouGov survey found that 64% of MPs say the Whitehall civil service is “too risk-averse and closed to new ideas.”

Even better? 43% of civil servants themselves agree that Whitehall is too risk-averse.

Think about that: Everyone knows the system doesn’t work. But it keeps not working anyway.

That’s not incompetence. That’s broken Britain as a feature, not a bug.

Why Civil Service Reform Never Happens.

Whitehall Monitor 2025 found that “high staff turnover, confused workforce planning, slipping morale and uncompetitive pay are hindering the civil service’s ability to deliver.”

But here’s the kicker: Research from LSE shows civil servants are risk-averse because that’s what the system selects for. Most permanent secretaries reach senior positions by efficiently working within existing frameworks—not challenging them.

As one analysis notes: “Civil servants aren’t slow, risk-averse or inexpert because they choose to be. They’re slowed down by 5 layers of people signing off their work.”

The system creates these behaviours. Then politicians blame civil servants for behaving exactly as designed.

Why civil service reform is impossible: You can’t fix a system staffed by people selected specifically to resist change.

UK Government Corruption: We’re Not Even Good At This Anymore.

Britain’s Corruption Rankings Collapsed.

Remember when Britain had a reputation for clean government? Yeah, about that...

Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index scored the UK at 71 out of 100—ranking 20th globally. That’s a dramatic fall from just outside the top ten only three years ago.

UK Anti-Corruption Coalition polling found:

66% of voters believe UK politics is becoming more corrupt
80% believe some or all main political parties are corrupt and untrustworthy

The Big Issue reported the UK’s ranking as “the worst in Western Europe”—below Estonia, Uruguay, and the Seychelles.

Let that sink in: Britain now ranks below the Seychelles for government corruption.

Why UK Government Corruption Matters.

This isn’t just about politicians taking bribes (though there’s that too). Transparency International UK warns that “without decisive action to restore integrity to public life, the country risks further decline.”

The Anti-Corruption Champion position was vacant for 2.5 years. Think about that: the person whose job is preventing UK government corruption didn’t exist for two and a half years. Nobody thought to fill the position.

That’s not oversight. That’s telling you corruption isn’t a priority.

Special Advisors: The Shadow Government Nobody Elected.

The Unelected Officials Running Broken Britain.

Special advisors—SpAds—are the ultimate illustration of why the UK government doesn’t work: unelected, unaccountable, and wielding enormous influence.

According to official data, there were 128 SpAds as of March 2024, costing taxpayers £14.4 million. By March 2025, that number hit 130, with 42 serving Prime Minister Keir Starmer alone.

What these unelected officials do:

Give political advice (without being civil servants)
Whisper in ministers’ ears (without being elected)
Control what ministers see (without formal power)
Spin disasters into “policy achievements” (without shame)

The Institute for Government reports that some SpAds wield more influence than junior ministers because they’re personally trusted by the Secretary of State.

Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson: “They’re your personal appointments and therefore you’ve got a closeness to them that is crucial in this cold, harsh world.”

The Revolving Door of UK Decline.

Research on 521 former British SpAds (1997-2017) shows they often become tomorrow’s political leaders or corporate lobbyists. It’s a revolving door: politics to influence-peddling and back again.

The numbers doubled from 63 in 2010 to 128 in 2024. The Institute for Government notes this reflects “the importance of spads to ministers.”

Translation: Politicians need more unelected handlers to function. That’s British decline in numbers.

Why the UK Government Doesn’t Work: The Three-Way Standoff.

Here’s how broken Britain governance actually operates:

The Politician (narcissistic, temporary, needs applause): “I want to ban all homework!”

The Special Advisor (anxious, expendable, needs job security): “Minister, what if we reframe that as ‘empowering families through flexible educational frameworks’?”

The Whitehall Civil Servant (rigid, permanent, needs precedent): “I’m afraid that contravenes the Education Act 1996, subsection 47b, paragraph 12. However, we could conduct a consultation that will take 18 months and conclude that more research is needed.”

Result: Nothing happens. But everyone looks busy. Reports get written. Meetings get held. And the system grinds on.

This isn’t governance—it’s three different types of dysfunction paralysing each other whilst calling it democracy.

This is why nothing works in the UK. Not because people are incompetent. Because the system is designed to prevent anything from working.

Defence Chiefs and Intelligence Services: The Permanent Government’s Violence Managers.

Who Really Controls Britain’s Military.

The Chief of the Defence Staff controls Britain’s military—currently Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton. These permanent government officials decide when and where British forces kill people.

What kind of brain do you need for that job? One that can compartmentalise human death into “acceptable losses” and “strategic objectives.”

Research on UK Armed Forces shows the military selects for:

Rigid hierarchical thinking (follow orders without questioning)
Emotional compartmentalisation (separate work from humanity)
Risk calculation without emotion (human life as variables)
Obsessive mission focus (excluding everything else)

Oxford’s Military Leadership and Judgment Programme trains commanders to “maintain cognitive clarity under stress.”

Translation: We train people to make death decisions without their conscience interfering.

Intelligence Services: Professional Paranoia As Policy

More than 15,500 people work for Britain’s intelligence agencies—MI5, MI6, GCHQ. According to MI6’s careers site, they need “high motivation, good emotional intelligence and curiosity.”

Translation: Pattern-recognition obsessives who can’t turn off threat assessment.

National Security News reported that MI5 created a Behavioural Science Unit recruiting psychologists to identify “insider risk”—intelligence officers who might become double agents.

Think about that: We hire people to be professionally paranoid, then hire more people to watch them because they’re professionally paranoid.

These are the people providing threat assessments that defence chiefs use to decide where to drop bombs.

Nobody questions whether the threat assessment is accurate or just the product of a brain trained to see threats everywhere.

That’s the permanent government at work.

Why Nothing Works: The Structural Reality of Broken Britain.

You Can’t Reform What’s Designed to Resist Reform.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth about why nothing works in the UK: Every level is staffed by people specifically selected to prevent reform.

Whitehall Monitor 2025 reports that despite government rhetoric about “rewiring the state,” there’s little evidence of actual change. The civil service continues growing—516,950 civil servants as of June 2025—despite promises to cut numbers.

The power structure that maintains broken Britain:

Politicians: Temporary (2-3 years average)
Civil Servants: Permanent (30-40 year careers)
SpAds: Expendable (tied to minister’s fate)
Cabinet Secretary: Outlasts everyone (decades in system)

When reformist politicians arrive with big plans, the permanent government already knows how this ends. They’ve seen it before.

The Numbers Don’t Lie About British Decline

A decade of austerity initially cut the civil service from 470,000 in 2010 to 380,000 by 2016. But then it grew again—Brexit required recruiting tens of thousands, possibly more than the 60,000 employed by Brussels.

Result: We now have more bureaucrats doing less, costing more, achieving nothing.

That’s British decline in spreadsheet form.

Why Ministers Can’t Fix Whitehall.

Former ministers identify consistent frustrations with Whitehall:

Poor-quality drafting
Failure to appreciate parliamentary importance
Overly cautious policy advice
Excessive hierarchy blocks access to experts

But the analysis is clear: “Framing the failings of Whitehall as personal complacency misses the point. Civil servants aren’t slow because they choose to be.”

It’s the system. And the system is designed to maintain itself.

Broken Britain: Not A Slogan, A Documented Reality.

The Data Proves Britain Is Declining.

UK government corruption rankings: Dropped to 20th globally
Whitehall efficiency: 64% of MPs say it’s too risk-averse
Civil service size: 516,950 and growing despite cut promises
Special advisors: Doubled from 63 to 130 in 14 years
Cost to taxpayers: £14.4 million for unelected SpAds alone
Public trust: 80% believe political parties are corrupt

Institute for Government analysis confirms “high staff turnover, confused workforce planning, slipping morale and uncompetitive pay are hindering the civil service’s ability to deliver.”

This isn’t a conspiracy theory. This is documented fact.

Why Nothing Gets Done.

While Whitehall civil servants debate procedures:

A&E waiting times hit record highs
Wages stagnate for 15 years
Housing becomes unaffordable
Infrastructure crumbles
Public services collapse

But the permanent government keeps humming. The machinery maintains itself. The system preserves the system.

That’s why nothing works in the UK.

Who Really Runs Britain: The Uncomfortable Answer.

Everyone is selected for specific traits that maintain broken Britain:

✅ Politicians: Narcissism, need for approval, performance skills
✅ Whitehall Civil Servants: Risk avoidance, process obsession, permanence
✅ SpAds: Proximity to power without responsibility
✅ Defence Chiefs: Emotional compartmentalisation
✅ Intelligence Officers: Professional paranoia

And none of them are selected to serve you.

The permanent government selects for:

Process over outcomes
Risk avoidance over bold action
Hierarchy over innovation
Secrecy over transparency
Continuity over disruption

The Institute for Government emphasises that “a lifetime civil servant should look for answers outside the corridors of Whitehall“ if transformation is the goal.

But they won’t. Because the system is working perfectly—for them.

FAQs: The Questions About Who Runs Britain.

Q: Who has more power—the Prime Minister or the Cabinet Secretary?

The PM has formal authority. The Cabinet Secretary controls the permanent government machinery that implements (or blocks) everything. Plus they outlast the PM. The Whitehall bureaucracy wins every time.

Q: Why can’t voters fix broken Britain?

Because you vote for temporary politicians who perform. The permanent government—civil servants, SpAds, defence chiefs, intelligence services—stays regardless of who wins elections.

Q: Why don’t ministers fire obstructive Whitehall civil servants?

Strong employment protections, institutional knowledge, and—most importantly—they know where the bodies are buried. Ministers rotate. Civil servants remember everything.

Q: Is UK government corruption getting worse?

Yes. Britain dropped from near top-10 to 20th globally in corruption rankings in just three years. The Anti-Corruption Champion position was vacant for 2.5 years. Transparency International warns of further decline without action.

Q: Why nothing works in the UK government?

Because the system is designed to maintain itself, not serve citizens. Whitehall selects for risk avoidance. Politicians are temporary. The permanent government ensures nothing fundamentally changes.

Q: What can ordinary people do about British decline?

Honestly? Not much within the existing system. But you can stop pretending it’s a democracy and start calling it what it is: an oligarchy with elections for the performance positions.

The Truth About Broken Britain.

You vote for the actors.
The permanent government runs the show.
The Whitehall bureaucracy was selected specifically to never change the show.

That’s not incompetence. That’s not even corruption.

That’s the system working exactly as designed.

The Almighty Gob. The Satirical Social Philosopher.

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