Civil servants have come in for severe criticism from Tory MPs.A Whitehall watchdog has cleared Labour of wrongdoing after the party was accused of stuffing the civil service with donors and supporters.The Civil Service Commission launched an investigation following complaints by the Tories that the government had given people jobs without going through the proper procedure.In their report published today, they found that 550 “appointments by exception” were made by the new government in July and August.However, that was “considerably lower” than the Tories’ time in office, when 61,815 civil service jobs were handed out in that way at a rate of 1,287 a month.The CSC report said: “The review found that fewer exceptions were made in this period than is typical in a similar length of time.“Their usage varied by number and appointment length across civil service departments and organisations.“The review identified a range of good practice and some areas that required improvement. The commission was largely satisfied