Rishi Sunak - PM

[bagpuss]

Raab has just resigned.

[Opti]

Pretty obviously nudged by Sunak who didn't have the balls to sack him.
A weak PM.

[lpm]

The story I heard, 2nd hand, of Raab's bullying was horrific. PTSD level impact on the victim.

No complaint was made in that case, because the victim couldn't face it.

[geejaytee]

Pretty obviously nudged by Sunak who didn't have the balls to sack him.
A weak PM.

And in a week where CCHQ trotted out the "Sir Softy" line. They really aren't good at politics, are they?

[bagpuss]

Pretty obviously nudged by Sunak who didn't have the balls to sack him.
A weak PM.

Yes. Raab had said he would resign if the bullying charges were proved. He has pretty much said that the report doesn't prove bullying against him (all but 2 charges dismissed, those 2 have set the bar so low for what bullying is) and didn't resign on reading it yesterday. So the fact that he has resigned this morning suggests that some kind of pressure must have been put. Number 10 sources are apparently insisting that Sunak didn't put pressure on him, which obviously we all believe implicitly. It may of course be that that is technically true - ie Sunak asked someone else to put pressure on Raab.

The story I heard, 2nd hand, of Raab's bullying was horrific. PTSD level impact on the victim.

No complaint was made in that case, because the victim couldn't face it.

I'm extremely sorry to hear that and I hope they're getting the right support.

I expect there are quite a number of other people who also haven't made complaints because they just couldn't.


ETA:

Raab's apology in his letter is very much of the weaselly "I'm sorry you feel that way about my entirely acceptable, nay noble, behaviour" variety.

I am genuinely sorry for any unintended stress or offence that any officials felt, as a result of the pace, standards and challenge that I brought to the Ministry of Justice

[EACLucifer]

Raab's apology in his letter is very much of the weaselly "I'm sorry you feel that way about my entirely acceptable, nay noble, behaviour" variety.

I am genuinely sorry for any unintended stress or offence that any officials felt, as a result of the pace, standards and challenge that I brought to the Ministry of Justice

People who bring out this sort of sh.t in place of an apology should be beaten savagely with metal rods for the betterment of society.

[bagpuss]

Raab's apology in his letter is very much of the weaselly "I'm sorry you feel that way about my entirely acceptable, nay noble, behaviour" variety.

I am genuinely sorry for any unintended stress or offence that any officials felt, as a result of the pace, standards and challenge that I brought to the Ministry of Justice

People who bring out this sort of sh.t in place of an apology should be beaten savagely with metal rods for the betterment of society.

And then be told "I'm very sorry if you feel any pain as a result of the actions you forced me to take"?

[lpm]

No wonder these clowns are so incompetent, they are doing macho long hours working instead of being effective leaders.

He is said to work a seven-day week, working "assiduously and typically from about 0730 until about 2200, Monday to Thursday. Friday he dedicates to constituency work, and he regularly works on weekends."

[EACLucifer]

No wonder these clowns are so incompetent, they are doing macho long hours working instead of being effective leaders.

He is said to work a seven-day week, working "assiduously and typically from about 0730 until about 2200, Monday to Thursday. Friday he dedicates to constituency work, and he regularly works on weekends."

I'm reminded of a fellow I knew who did a stint working in Japan, and was assumed to be a hard worker because he fell asleep in the office, and of course one would only do that if working very hard.

But then self-deluding b.llsh.t is exactly the sort of thing I'd expect from Raab.

ETA: I'd honestly be concerned if I found a general in a war was working those hours routinely. It doesn't leave people effective, and leaves nothing in reserve if they have to step up to meet unexpected challenges.

[headshot]

No wonder these clowns are so incompetent, they are doing macho long hours working instead of being effective leaders.

He is said to work a seven-day week, working "assiduously and typically from about 0730 until about 2200, Monday to Thursday. Friday he dedicates to constituency work, and he regularly works on weekends."

I'm reminded of a fellow I knew who did a stint working in Japan, and was assumed to be a hard worker because he fell asleep in the office, and of course one would only do that if working very hard.

But then self-deluding b.llsh.t is exactly the sort of thing I'd expect from Raab.

ETA: I'd honestly be concerned if I found a general in a war was working those hours routinely. It doesn't leave people effective, and leaves nothing in reserve if they have to step up to meet unexpected challenges.

"Just two more lines of coke and I'll get through this. No three. No...four. Four lines of coke and I'll be ON TOP OF THE FVCKING WORLD A$$HOLES!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

[EACLucifer]

No wonder these clowns are so incompetent, they are doing macho long hours working instead of being effective leaders.

I'm reminded of a fellow I knew who did a stint working in Japan, and was assumed to be a hard worker because he fell asleep in the office, and of course one would only do that if working very hard.

But then self-deluding b.llsh.t is exactly the sort of thing I'd expect from Raab.

ETA: I'd honestly be concerned if I found a general in a war was working those hours routinely. It doesn't leave people effective, and leaves nothing in reserve if they have to step up to meet unexpected challenges.

"Just two more lines of coke and I'll get through this. No three. No...four. Four lines of coke and I'll be ON TOP OF THE FVCKING WORLD A$$HOLES!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

Indeed.

In addition, someone working those hours either a) can't communicate well enough to effectively subordinate or b) is too arrogant to trust anyone else with the work. As running a government department requires far more than 168 person hours per week of work, the ability to effectively delegate is right at the top of the list of important skills for the job.

[Woodchopper]

I'm reminded of a fellow I knew who did a stint working in Japan, and was assumed to be a hard worker because he fell asleep in the office, and of course one would only do that if working very hard.

But then self-deluding b.llsh.t is exactly the sort of thing I'd expect from Raab.

ETA: I'd honestly be concerned if I found a general in a war was working those hours routinely. It doesn't leave people effective, and leaves nothing in reserve if they have to step up to meet unexpected challenges.

"Just two more lines of coke and I'll get through this. No three. No...four. Four lines of coke and I'll be ON TOP OF THE FVCKING WORLD A$$HOLES!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

Indeed.

In addition, someone working those hours either a) can't communicate well enough to effectively subordinate or b) is too arrogant to trust anyone else with the work. As running a government department requires far more than 168 person hours per week of work, the ability to effectively delegate is right at the top of the list of important skills for the job.

The problem with government departments is that the minister rather than individual civil servants will be publicly criticized and at some point expected to resign if someone in the department has made a mistake. So there is a very strong incentive not to delegate too much and to go through everything. In this sense the job is very different from any other senior position I can think of.

I don't get the impression that Rabb's hours are excessive compared to other ministers. For example, I remember that Alan Clark's diaries described him routinely working through evenings and weekends. Ministers with constituencies far from London will also have to spend a lot of time travelling. Back in the old days it was also normal for the House of Commons to regularly sit late at night. So a minister might spend all they at their desk and then have to go to the House at midnight to vote.

[monkey]

Pretty obviously nudged by Sunak who didn't have the balls to sack him.
A weak PM.

They always resign, even when they've been sacked.

Sunak is still a weak PM, whether he did the sacking or not.

[noggins]

Are civil servants with an abusive minister legally worse off than people with vile bosses in other jobs?
In terms of being able to get the boss disciplined or fired, or quitting and winning constructive dismissal.

[monkey]

Are civil servants with an abusive minister legally worse off than people with vile bosses in other jobs?
In terms of being able to get the boss disciplined or fired, or quitting and winning constructive dismissal.

They should have the same rights as anyone else, cos they're employees.

But when your boss is one of the most powerful people in the country I imagine things probably get iffy.

[jimbob]

Maria Hyde is good, again. With a mix of righteous anger and one liners

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ak-scandal



So what now of Sunak, the hardest man in the luxury knitwear aisle?

Actually, hang on. During a discussion of Raab’s conduct, Ministry of Justice officials were told by Foreign Office counterparts that “people had died” in the Afghanistan evacuation because of Dom’s refusal to review documents in formats he didn’t like. Maybe we can split the difference and go with “people died, but not these people”?

[Boustrophedon]

Or as Attila the Stockbroker put it on Facebook: 'A rare case of the sinking ship deserting the rat.'

[Millennie Al]

I am genuinely sorry for any unintended stress or offence that any officials felt, as a result of the pace, standards and challenge that I brought to the Ministry of Justice

Does this mean there was intended stress or offence and that he is not genuinely sorry for that?

[El Pollo Diablo]

On the formats thing, my boss, formerly of HMT and BEIS, told me that in his earlier days in the civil service (during the coalition days, I think), their EDI section advised that for internal reports, it was better to use sans serif fonts for ease of reading for those with sight or reading problems. So they started writing reports in Arial font.

However, the official line came back that Arial is a Labour font and not to be used. Apparently, the tories insist on times new roman for reports, whilst the lib dems favour calibri. Labour like Arial, apparently. No idea if things have changed in the last 10 years or so, but it's the tories, so probably not.

[Grumble]

On the formats thing, my boss, formerly of HMT and BEIS, told me that in his earlier days in the civil service (during the coalition days, I think), their EDI section advised that for internal reports, it was better to use sans serif fonts for ease of reading for those with sight or reading problems. So they started writing reports in Arial font.

However, the official line came back that Arial is a Labour font and not to be used. Apparently, the tories insist on times new roman for reports, whilst the lib dems favour calibri. Labour like Arial, apparently. No idea if things have changed in the last 10 years or so, but it's the tories, so probably not.

My company has its own font. God knows how much they paid for it.

[noggins]

Dear god , times new roman is objectively horrible

[Grumble]

Dear god , times new roman is objectively horrible

Even the Times haven’t used it since the 90’s

[Gfamily]

On the formats thing, my boss, formerly of HMT and BEIS, told me that in his earlier days in the civil service (during the coalition days, I think), their EDI section advised that for internal reports, it was better to use sans serif fonts for ease of reading for those with sight or reading problems. So they started writing reports in Arial font.

However, the official line came back that Arial is a Labour font and not to be used. Apparently, the tories insist on times new roman for reports, whilst the lib dems favour calibri. Labour like Arial, apparently. No idea if things have changed in the last 10 years or so, but it's the tories, so probably not.

For the avoidance of doubt, it seems the 'formats thing' wasn't just a fuss about what typeface was used; more that he wanted the list of emergency evacuees [rpt: the emergency evacuees] in "a well-presented table to make decisions" (there is a Daily Mail link from 6th Dec 2021 you can probably find).

[jimbob]

More pressure on Braverman.



https://twitter.com/William_Wragg/statu ... 71175?s=20

Describing her political and legal acumen, during a presentation on their first day.

William Wragg MP
@William_Wragg
Her question to
@ipsaUK
concerned whether a speeding ticket incurred during the course of parliamentary duties could be claimed on expenses. Rather embarrassed, the representatives from
@ipsaUK
said no.

[El Pollo Diablo]

On the formats thing, my boss, formerly of HMT and BEIS, told me that in his earlier days in the civil service (during the coalition days, I think), their EDI section advised that for internal reports, it was better to use sans serif fonts for ease of reading for those with sight or reading problems. So they started writing reports in Arial font.

However, the official line came back that Arial is a Labour font and not to be used. Apparently, the tories insist on times new roman for reports, whilst the lib dems favour calibri. Labour like Arial, apparently. No idea if things have changed in the last 10 years or so, but it's the tories, so probably not.

For the avoidance of doubt, it seems the 'formats thing' wasn't just a fuss about what typeface was used; more that he wanted the list of emergency evacuees [rpt: the emergency evacuees] in "a well-presented table to make decisions" (there is a Daily Mail link from 6th Dec 2021 you can probably find).

For the avoidance of doubt from my end, I was just backing up the formats thing with a completely ridiculous anecdote about how these idiots think.