Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 18.00
Lecture: Robin Butler
In Britain a change of government happens within twenty-four hours of a General Election; in the United States the process takes more than two months. Lord Butler, who was Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service in 1997 when the last such change took place in Britain, describes what happens behind the scenes and compares the strengths and weaknesses of the UK and US systems. Lord Butler served as Private Secretary to five successive Prime Ministers, chaired the enquiry into the use of intelligence in the lead-up to the Iraq war, and was Master of University College Oxford following his retirement from the Civil Service.