I'm pretty sure they were more pissed off with the perception of wasted money on guarding the embassy than the actual money itself.

... and?

I've seen similar, in all walks of life. Politicians and civil servants are by no means immune to pettiness. Especially when setting an example might spare them work and money in the future.

Civil servants in the UK are renowned for being inherently lazy, incompetent and devious.

Its no wonder when you have to interact with politicians on a day to day basis that the cultures should mirror each other.

I would much prefer Microsoft Civil Servant sp4 or an IBM Civil Servant AI powered by Big Blue.

“Civil servants in the UK are renowned for being inherently lazy, incompetent and devious.”

Depressing to see such low-quality nonsense on HackerNews.

there are several brilliant documentaries[⁰][¹] about the inner political circles in Britain which make exactly the point GP is alluding to:

[⁰] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thick_of_It

[¹] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes_Minister

Likewise with your comment mate

https://www.clivebates.com/documents/lazycivilservant.pdf

I’m not sure that an amusing leaflet, ostensibly about civil servants but equally humorous to anyone in a large private enterprise, refutes the parent’s point.

Civil servants are not "known" for anything. The civil service is a lumbering giant but you can't characterise it in such terms. You can try but you'd need to drive to a castle to get your eyes tested first

Civil servants are renowned for those things in every country.

How did he make them waste money?

Downvoted.. so let me assume "by being chased all over the world in an attempt to make a shady extradition to the US".

It's like being rear-ended, and when you claim on your insurance, the other party says you cost them money. Except you didn't - they where to blame.