New marching orders and a new leader for Britain’s civil service

SIMON CASE sounded more than ready for retirement as he gave his valedictory speech on December 3rd. The cabinet secretary, Britain’s most senior unelected official, was dressed for a shooting weekend, in a green tweed check suit, and leaned on a cane—the result of a health condition that, he has revealed, has unjustly forced his exit from government at the age of 45. In four years he had served through a pandemic, an economic crisis, four prime ministers and two monarchs; at times, he felt that “the weight of some of the world” was on his shoulders. He sounded stung by the cynicism that greeted those who gave themselves to public service. He read passages of Teddy Roosevelt’s ode to “the man in the arena”.  “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles.”