The foreign minister also referred to “starting your own business” as a “Jewish value”. Speaking to Sky News, Stephen Littlewood, assistant general secretary of the FDA’s civil servants union, said: “Mrs Truss has already accused [civil servants] that they are lazy, they are threatened with having their wages cut. “But to be accused of institutional anti-Semitism – that’s basically what they’re being accused of – I mean, they’re absolutely stunned. “I’ve had members contact me today saying they’re upset, they’re terrified. “I’ve had Jews contact me saying they feel really uncomfortable being dragged into the middle of a political controversy and being used to attack public administration.” He also described her pledge to “change the culture of public servants that is engendered by anti-Semitism” as “inflammatory, offensive and disgusting”. Is Johnson ignoring Sunak’s calls? Politics lately FDA secretary-general Dave Penman said Truss had provided “no evidence whatsoever for her accusation”, which he said “goes further than the usual whistle-blowing politics” of the ongoing Conservative leadership election. “The Conservatives have been in government for over 12 years now and, for most of that time, Liz Truss has been a minister,” he said. “So the accusations of ‘waking up civil servants’ are a bit ironic, given that it is essentially a criticism of their own leadership.” In a written statement issued after her speech at a synagogue in Manchester, Ms Truss addressed the “wake-up call” to the public service, adding: “Every organization has its culture, but it’s not fixed, it can be changed. “That’s what ministerial leadership is: it’s about making sure that the policies we stand for, the values we stand for, are reflected in what we do. “I have been very clear with our officials about the positions we take on Israel and that will continue if I become prime minister.” The pledge is understood to be related to a proposal Ms Truss needed to “override” Foreign Office officials who had expressed doubts about her show of support for the Israeli prime minister at the UN Human Rights Council. In an interview, she told the Jewish Chronicle that she had stood by her “good friend” Yair Lapid, despite claims by some in the department that this could lead to Britain becoming “isolated”. The foreign secretary also pledged to review whether schools were doing enough to educate students and teachers about anti-Semitism, according to her team, and said university campuses needed to “get rid” of the issue. “So many Jewish values are Conservative values and British values, for example, seeing the importance of family and always taking steps to protect the family unit and the value of hard work and starting and building your own business,” he said. he said. “The British Jewish community is incredibly proud of this country, and so are the Conservatives.”
