This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Civil service morale has been hammered by the Brexit crisis, Whitehall insiders say, with senior officials increasingly asking whether they should quit.

A former senior official who left in 2018 told the Guardian they had received “a steady stream of inquiries” from colleagues who felt their work was “no longer purposeful” because the focus on Brexit over the past year had strangled policymaking.

“What’s changed is that Brexit policy has become incredibly centralised, while the government’s loss of control of parliament means that officials can no longer be certain that any other policies are going to be enacted,” they said.

The sense of frustration began to emerge in the latter stages of Theresa May’s premiership as it became clear Brexit had become the dominant issue in British politics, and it has continued with no sign of a solution.

“The other thing making people want to leave is the realisation that they’ll have to spend 10 years cleaning up the mess,” the former official added.

Union representatives said a handful of civil servants had got in touch on Thursday specifically to voice their concerns about Boris Johnson’s plan to suspend parliament for five weeks from the middle of next month. They were told they had little choice but to carry on and advise ministers or resign.

Some high-profile officials announced their departures as it became increasingly apparent that Johnson would enter Downing Street, and union leaders said Brexit crisis would have been a factor. “These are people who are able to make choices in their careers,” a public sector union leader said.

They include Jon Thompson, the chief executive of HM Revenue and Customs, and Tom Shinner, who had led planning for a no-deal Brexit at the Department for Exiting the European Union.

On Wednesday a former head of the civil service, Lord Kerslake, said officials should consider putting their “stewardship of the country ahead of service to the government of the day”.

Defending his comments on Thursday, Kerslake, who has previously advised Labour, said he was not advocating that civil servants try to subvert Johnson’s Brexit plans, but he added: “These are exceptional times.”

He said: “I want civil servants to be providing robust advice because it is important to recognise what a serious position we are in. Some of things that Downing Street is talking about amount to an abuse of power, an undermining of our parliamentary democracy.”

The crossbench peer said the legality of Johnson’s attempt to suspend parliament next month was as yet unclear because it was being challenged in the courts.

Kerslake also pointed to press reports that No 10 could ignore the result of a no-confidence vote or refuse to send a bill preventing a no-deal Brexit to the Queen if opposition MPs could get one through parliament.

Union leaders described Kerslake’s comments as “deeply unhelpful”, arguing they could be interpreted by hard Brexiters as a call for officials to frustrate the outcome of the 2016 EU referendum.

Mike Clancy, the general secretary of Prospect, which represents rank-and-file civil servants, said: “At a time when politicians from all sides are lining up to attack civil servants and accuse them of political bias, these comments from Bob Kerslake are surprising.”

Downing Street was also dismissive of Kerslake, describing his intervention as over the top. One insider pointed out that Kerslake had previous advised the Labour leader, Jeremy Corybn, on preparing for government.

“I would add him to the list of Labour people who have descended into hyperbole,” the source said.