Public Servant Lifestyle

The Prince Of Wales is calling for greater recognition and support for Britain's millions of public servants.

In a speech marking 300 years of daily newspaper publishing in the UK, The Prince equated the role of the Civil Service, Police, and Armed Forces, with newspapers and the Church, as "vital components of any democratic, civil society."

"I should also mention those who teach our children, tend our sick and elderly, and the wonderful people who comprise the flourishing voluntary sector in this country," said the Prince. "In recent years, each of these public organizations, and groups of public servants, have come under scrutiny - probably more so now, than at any time in our history - and have come in for some fair, but also some grossly unfair criticism, and exposure to debate.

Constructive Comments

"But the boundary between constructive comment about structures, and destructive scepticism about the integrity of any public servant, seems sometimes to be blurred.

"Is the whole of the health care system - and the confidence of the public in it, and in those dedicated people whom we all rely upon to work in it - not undermined by the publicity given to what goes wrong, rather than the tiny miracles wrought, day in, day out, by an expert, kind and dedicated staff?

"Does our faith in the integrity of the Civil Service - or public service itself - not become dented by the actions of a small minority of individuals? Is not the extremely difficult job of the police made harder, by the highlighting of their faults, rather than their strengths?

"Incidentally, in this regard," continued the Prince, "I want you to know how profoundly moved I was to hear, just the other day, from a German citizen who wrote to tell me of the truly remarkable, selfless manner in which a family liaison officer, from the Avon and Somerset Police Force, had carried out his duties in helping her bereaved family cope with the tragic death of her daughter, in a crash on the M5.

Fiercely Proud

"She said we should be fiercely proud, in this country, of such a wonderful example of public service, which is not common elsewhere. Perhaps she was trying to tell us something…

"By highlighting the faults, rather than the great strengths, such as the German lady wrote to me about, are we not perhaps damaging the very roots of these institutions - unaware of their enormous value to us, until it is too late?

"For while the public services may seem to be Leviathans on the landscape of our state, impregnable to attack, their roots are human ones, and their reputations are susceptible to long-term decay, and the corrosive drip of constant criticism.

"It seems to me that a degree of this criticism stems from a culture which is nowadays too often concerned with complaining - the culture not of freedom, linked with responsibility, but of everyone demanding their 'rights', whatever they may be, and blaming others when things go wrong.

"More of us need to recognize that we all have a responsible role to play in improving our society, and our country, not just in carping all the time, and running down those around us."

The Prince of Wales served for five years with the Royal Navy, and RAF. On his 50th birthday, he was promoted to 'Two-star' Rank in all three Services of the Armed Forces. The Prince holds honorary rank and appointments in many branches and regiments of the armed services, and has a considerable involvement in voluntary sector organisations, the biggest being The Prince's Trust.

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