Still less are civil servants paid to do so rather than getting on with the job – which taxpayers fund.
If politicians come to believe that the civil service is preoccupied with speaking truth to power at the expense of doing its job, Francis Maude-type solutions will be imposed, regardless of which party is in power.
Or has PMQs become, like those wrestling bouts shown on the telly, a bit of a put-up job?
Our political constitution rightly puts our representatives, not the permanent bureaucracy, in the driving seat.
The Party Chairman responsible for fund-raising is playing for higher stakes than he may appreciate.