Dominic Raab is just the latest culprit – the public have lost faith in all politicians
Andrew Rawnsley
So, let’s have those untrusted politicians doing less, having less influence over life then. Democracy is this idea that the public get what they want, good and hard, isn’t it?
Raab has been a poor minister with a track record of non achievement. But, the UK civil service needs to look at itself very carefully. Being told that one is useless is not bullying if it is true and certainly Civil Service uselessness is baked in. Allied to that is passive resistance which has to be overcome.
Yes Minister was supposed to be satire, but was successful because it mirrored how Whitehll really worked.
A trip to see the lions would work wonders.
Endless irony as yet another media luvvie pontificates about the public losing faith with people he disagrees with.
Raab, Braverman, Patel, JRM, etc. etc.
Olympic gold medal talkers, every one.
“So, let’s have those untrusted politicians doing less, having less influence over life then…”
Except when they are attempting to dismantle shite like the human rights legislation that prevents us from deporting foreign scofflaws. Then I want them to have lots of influence.
If you are inclined to be lazy, passive aggressive, and a liar, where better to work than in the upper echelons of the civil service, where the convention of individual ministerial responsibility prevents direct public challenges? At least Raab gets called out in Parliament and the media, whereas we don’t even know who his accusers are.
Another example of the Deep State in the UK.
Don’t bother electing Councillors or MP’s, they aren’t the ones in charge…..
O/T
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/21/london-ambulances-31m-electric-cars-paramedic-pay-dispute/
Yet another example of a misleading headline and laughable mathematics which our host loves so much.
Admittedly the article quickly states that £3.1m (42 x £74k) only represents part of the entire £31m programme but why miss the chance of a sexy headline?
‘A trip to see the lions would work wonders.’
Provided they don’t come back Otto.
And indeed you do have a good point Sam. These worthless drongos always seem to be stopping the policies I support. Even worse, they support policies that inconvenience and annoy ME!!!!
Whitehall has now brought down two prime ministers and several ministers. Doubtless many, disliking the particular people involved will cheer. But unless Whitehall is cut down a peg or two it won’t matter who we elect, they will be powerless anyway.
“A trip to see the lions would work wonders.”
A trip to pet the lions, just before feeding time, would work even better.
Ottokring,
“Raab has been a poor minister with a track record of non achievement. But, the UK civil service needs to look at itself very carefully. Being told that one is useless is not bullying if it is true and certainly Civil Service uselessness is baked in. Allied to that is passive resistance which has to be overcome.”
There are people in some organisations who don’t want to work much, and when challenged, will yell “racist” or “bully” or talk about mental health, because it adds friction to the process of firing them. A manager now doesn’t just have to go through a painstaking process of collecting evidence, building a case for them to be fired, but also has to go through that shit too. And the person making the claim never suffers any punishment for their lies or exaggerations. The last thing that civil servants want is a demanding minister. They’d rather have someone who let’s them get on with how they want to work, so they’ve won here.
I managed a guy like this once. I just ended up doing his work for him because it was so painful trying to do the required process of managing him, down to meeting every day to make sure he didn’t have anything blocking him. And at the end of a fortnight of that, with me saying “right, I’ve removed every blocker, and you still aren’t delivering” he lost his shit at me, and went all “I’m the victim here”. It’s one of the reasons why so many people I know employ no-one but pay subcontractors. Because if they’re a useless fucker you can get rid of them at a week’s notice. People barely interview me because they know that I can be gone if I’m lying.
And ultimately this is all the Conservatives fault. The right can complain about the civil service firing him, but it’s really about prime ministers with no backbone, no leadership. Rishi could have got a Conservative to ask around, realised it was bollocks and told the civil servants to fuck off. How many votes would they have lost/won? And their utter failure to do what Conservatives should do, which is to shrink the state and outsource work. So that you have suppliers, who, if they fuck up, you can sue, or fire.
BoM4 – And their utter failure to do what Conservatives should do, which is to shrink the state and outsource work.
Yarp, but after 13 years of Continuity Blair it’s time to admit the Tories aren’t actually useless at all.
They know exactly what they’re doing.
I mean, I think we all assumed in 2010 that, while wetter than Diane Abbott’s bed after she washers herself with a rag on a stick, Dave Cameron would govern more like John Major and less like Gordon Fucking Brown.
Big mistake, since he warned us he was the Heir to Blair.