Dido Harding - should she be given greater responsibilities?

[Mumratheevergiving]

So the Government are busy blaming Public Health England and Ofqual for the recent disastrous handling of health and education (despite these being agencies they created, instructed and oversee!) They are now ditching PHE and have given the job of heading up the replacement agency ‘National Institute for Health Protection’ to Dido Harding the conservative peer who is currently heading up the utter shambles that is our track and trace system

So:
YABU Dido Harding is the right person for the job, we’re in safe hands with her at the helm

YANBU Dido Harding’s appointment is political cronyism and her track record is not good enough

*epidemiologist

Of course not. This is a terrible crony appointment of an agency that is incredibly important.

What is the most frustrating about this is that a lot was made of creating an analog to the Robert Koch Institute in Germany by the government yet they utterly fail to replicate the scientific and medical leadership that is central to that organisation.

It is just a power grab dressed up as reform.

@blackwych

I am thinking of writing to my MP again, as I feel as unhappy about this as I did about Dominic Cummings' eye test.

I'd write to mine.

She won't even respond. Never does.

It's Suella Braverman and she's as bad as them all

Even the Mail thinks it’s appalling

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8638193/Government-AXE-PHE-replace-new-institute-run-former-jockey-Baroness-Dido-Harding.html

And quotes one wag saying her appointment makes as much sense as appointing Chris Witty to run Vodafone 😂

[quote Aridane]Even the Mail thinks it’s appalling

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8638193/Government-AXE-PHE-replace-new-institute-run-former-jockey-Baroness-Dido-Harding.html[/quote]
Poor Mail - this must be the first time in living memory they've become irrelevant to a Tory government.

In other news, the sales of small violins has plunged ...

Well based on the results of this poll I wish Mumsnet was in charge of the country instead we are stuck with these chancers & shysters!

She and Chris Grayling have turned 'failing up' into an art form.

@Mumratheevergiving

Well based on the results of this poll I wish Mumsnet was in charge of the country instead we are stuck with these chancers & shysters!

In the run up to the last election, most of this was predicted and rubbished by a lot of MN. It's a downside to the namechange facility (which otherwise is one of MNs strengths for helping posters remain safe).

Where's the press in all this; Do they all have their hands tied?

@LizzieMacQueen

Where's the press in all this; Do they all have their hands tied?

Who cares ? Certainly not the government which has happily weathered a parade of bad headlines.

I return to my default stance on this - and all developments of how corrupt and incompetent this elected government are:

What ya gonna do ?

Well, what are you ?

Of all the disastrous decisions made by this embarrassment of a government - and there have been many - for some reason this is the one that has made me absolutely fucking furious.

She is an expensive incompetent. Handed what is perhaps one of the most critically important jobs in the country at any time, never mind during a fucking pandemic. Utter nepotism in plain sight.

And we look at Russia and think it’s bad. Couldn’t slip a Rizla between Putin and Johnson on current form.

itsgettingweird I have exactly the same problem. Still tempted to write another letter just to get it off my chest!

Does anyone know any competent lizard overlords? It would be an improvement...

She's not even called Dido. That's just her posh childhood nickname or something. This country seems to love fawning at posh kid nicknames - Boris/BoJo. That and all the "Thanks Rishi!" crap you see on here. He's not actually paying for your dinner.

Rant. Off. Chest.

I might actually write to my MP. She (her staff) does actually usually reply.

'Cronyism' is rife in the Tory party but it's true that the British public seem to be oblivious to most of it. I bet if there was an election next month , most would still vote for them as well despite everything that's gone wrong this year so far.

Her real name is Diane Harding.

Dido Armstrong the singer I'd sooner trust in the role.

But creates some news (good or bad) to try and divert from GW and the A level debacle.

At least it’s her real name😬

Surely it must be against some sort of rule for her to just be appointed without any sort of recruitment process? Can't the opposition do something? Tories are just laughing at us. And I notice the usual apologists haven't been onto this thread- I wonder why?

@flythewindmill

Surely it must be against some sort of rule for her to just be appointed without any sort of recruitment process? Can't the opposition do something? Tories are just laughing at us. And I notice the usual apologists haven't been onto this thread- I wonder why?

Who makes the rules ?

Well yes, I know, but when they prorogued parliament it eventually got sorted because they aren't supposed to be above their own laws.

Would love to write to our MP. Unfortunately it's her husband. Local news feed highlighted he's rather fond of the number 1828....(private insurance link)

Mikey Smith
@mikeysmith
·
15m
An unexpected turn in today’s story…

Dido Harding won’t be paid to run Matt Hancock’s new PHE replacement.

And she hasn’t been paid to run NHS Test and Trace.

At all. All on a ‘voluntary basis’.

From same source

'Yes she is, which makes her eligible to claim a £300 a day allowance. [tax free, apparently]

She also gets £25-30k a year as Chair of NHS Improvement.

But it’s very unusual for someone to run a government project of this scale for no government salary at all.'