Sir Nigel Wicks has urged the government to introduce greater powers of independent investigation to protect the civil service from political manipulation.

In a letter to Cabinet secretary Sir Andrew Turnbull, the chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life calls on ministers to set up measures to protect civil servants from undue pressures.

In an interview with ePolitix.com, Sir Nigel also said that Tony Blair needed to champion a civil service bill.

"You have a champion always for an education bill; you have a champion if you want an asylum bill, the home secretary; but there is no real champion for a civil service bill and therefore there is a tendency for it to be squeezed out. Personally I think the champion for a civil service bill should be the prime minister," he said.