Do as we say, not as we did

The Herald reports:

Civil servants will be encouraged to discuss their political activities with their managers and the political interests of close family members under new guidelines released yesterday.

The State Services Commission has toughened up its code of conduct for public servants with more prescriptive rules around political activities and potential conflicts of interest.

Not sure if this is needed, or not. But I was staggered to read this:

Mr Robertson, a former public servant, said it was reasonable for state servants to discuss their political activities with their managers “but dragging family members into it is taking it to another level”.

Has Grant heard of Madeleine Setchell? Really having a Labour MP talk about not dragging family members into it is just too much.

Both David Benson-Pope and Jim Anderton effectively blackballed Setchell from employment, because of who her boyfriend was.