[magospietato]

Whitehall - the UK civil service - persists between governments in a fairly unique way. It's essentially a political entity that exists beyond democracy that has pinky-promised to be politically ambivalent.

To paraphrase an adage I've forgotten: you can skim as much shit as you like off the Thames, it'll still be a filthy river.

[jpfromlondon]

an adage that is certainly true in the analogy but no longer true of the Thames.