Sure, the Treasury can be irritating – but Liz Truss’s approach is all wrong

The challenges we face are as grave as any we’ve seen for a generation, and we could do without the internal squabbling, writes Salma Shah

The impartiality of the civil service has to be protected (Reuters)

Sorry, but the fact is that everyone hates the Treasury. OK, hate is perhaps a little strong, but if you’re a minister or a civil servant in any other government department you have felt the painful sting of His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) curtailing your vision with its miserly worship of the scorecard and its twice-annual bean-counting exercise, otherwise known as the Budget.

So it’s unsurprising that Liz Truss got rid of the permanent secretary Tom Scholar. The smug condescension you get when the Treasury pours cold water over your plans and the audacity of making you look at the numbers underpinning them can be a scarring experience. Nevertheless, his removal was wrong.

Strong and fair government is based on the strength of our institutions. It is a defining factor of what makes us a good bet in the marketplace; it underpins a stable system. That, in many cases, comes above even individual fiscal decisions.