Westminstenders: The Mask is Slipping

[RedToothBrush]

This week has seen the department of the Chancellor who launched a 50p piece, the serious contemplation of a tin pot bridge, the rebirth of eugenics as a subject for cabinet, the announcement of the end of the BBC as we know it, the cabinet chanting after the PM in a way Orwell would be proud of, suppression of a report into trade deals which dares to mention the effect of distance and geography, worrying signs of an ever growing rift with Europe over negotiations for a deal, an appointment which starts to make our membership of the ECHR look very dodgy and there have been rather a lot of floods which so far seemed to have escaped the attention of those in London busy in their own swamp.

It's becoming apparent very quickly just how Trump like our new government are and how they want the UK to emulate the very worst aspects of America.

We are falling fast and its not looking like it will be pretty.

All we need is a major global issue to test our national resilience and the incompetence will truly be laid bare for us all to see... But not necessarily speak of. Such us the way it works.

Brexit Britain is not a nice looking prospect.

www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-51687287

Cross post! :)

The top civil servant in the Home Office has resigned and said he intends to sue the government for constructive dismissal.

Wow!

Go Sir Humphrey!

Now let's see that dirty laundry.

Isn't the person that Cummings had frog-marched out of Downing Street by armed Police, also taking against the Government?

Top Home Office civil servant Sir Philip Rutnam resigns, and intends to sue government for constructive dismissal

Rutnam - ‘my experience has been extreme but I believe it is part of a wider pattern’ in govt’

Could get interesting?

Oh.
Oh dear.
Oh deary me.

Go Sir Humphrey indeed!

@Peregrina there was talk of her suing but I don't think it was confirmed as happening.

The difference is she was young and needed to preserve her employability. SIR Philip Rutnam is older and can probably afford to and want to actually proceed no matter what incentives to settle may be offered by the Gov.

I can't help but think that these top Civil Servants should be natural Tories.

Just imagine the fuss the Press would be making if it was happening under a Labour Government. Johnson, I am sure, will happily throw Patel under the bus, if he needs to.

Well it's just lucky that it's a really quiet time for the Government.
There's nothing else for them to deal with on a quiet Saturday at the end of February, is there??
No flooding - it's mostly in Wales, the Midlands and the North.
No Pandemic - which is starting to spread.
No Brexit talks - because they don't want any and are purposefully steering us to the hardest of hard Brexits.

You do not mess with the FDA, a small but immensely powerful trade union.

Senior Civil Servants are almost all small-c conservative and always reluctant to fix what isn't broke.

David Gauke has written a Conservative Home piece on why the UK Government may trash the trade talks:

www.conservativehome.com/thecolumnists/2020/02/no-deal-2-why-i-a-leading-former-remainer-am-making-a-case-for-johnson-actively-seeking-it.html

TLDR; any new FTA with the EU won’t be very good and Johnson will have to sell it and own it, whereas walking out on the talks allows Johnson to blame the EU and more time to prep for WTO.

I know it’s been said that this is the plan all along, but interesting to see a former Tory Minister put it out there too.

The FDA is pursuing Sonia Khan’s case:

At the time of her dismissal, the Prime Minister alone had the authority to dismiss her, so in the employment tribunal we will expect both Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings to give evidence under oath as to the reasons for dismissal, the process they applied and the evidence they used to make that decision.

www.fda.org.uk/home/Newsandmedia/Features/Dave-Penman-comment-Standing-up-for-civil-servants.aspx

No flooding - it's mostly in Wales, the Midlands and the North.

Some of these will be in Red Wall seats.
Johnson might forget about flooding when the rain stops, but people flooded out won't.

A friend was flooded out some years back, she had to leave her house for six months, and even when it was refurbished, she was depressed and didn't really get over it for about two years.

I suppose the main difference between the two cases is that one is pursuing an unfair dismissal case and the other a constructive dismissal case.

Both equally damaging if upheld. And combined, very damning about the culture created by Cummings within Government.

I wonder how much longer Employment Tribunals will be in existence ....as we lower our standards move towards enabling an American style "Hire and Fire at Will" approach

More detailed news item about Sir Philip Rutnam - including a link to his full statement

Very damning. Lots of dirty washing will be aired. Not that the general public seems to care

Home Office boss quits over 'campaign against him ' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51687287

I would just love to see this: Johnson and Cummings saying that the won't attend court, being summonsed to attend, then the same duo lying on oath - and committing perjury. Which as any fule know, carries a prison sentence.

Rutnam's statement is astonishing. That he refused to be bought off and go quietly shows how seriously he believes this issue is.

I just wanted to say quite a lot of us are very happy with how he Tory Government is doing and voted Conservative.These threads obviously show one side but do not forget the huge support this Government has.

A few of the leading Brexiters were at least honest that they think Brexit will kill off UK mass manufacturing and farming.

On farming the link says;

"We’d stop listening to French farmers and instead the UK would help struggling farmers in our own country stand on their own two feet while protecting our beautiful rural environment in different ways."

That doesn't sound like killing off farming to me.

Minford appears to have changed his mind about manufacturing (or at least car manufacturing) which I've not seen reported before (the other quotes appear to be from 2012 and 2016):

"He now argues the car industry could prosper outside the EU."

"He said: “Quite a lot of the car industry has changed quite a bit from what it was in 2012, believe it or not. It’s now very much more high value-added"...

“A lot of what now happens in the car industry is now pretty skilled labour-intensive, and that could become more so.”

"He added:“What tends to happen is the competition that is unleashed by removing protection forces the industry to go up the value added chain, [to] more skill-intensive bits of the production process and outsource more of it" ...

“Obviously protection will be removed quite slowly in response to free trade agreements around the world so it won’t all happen overnight but probably, if you are looking [10 years ahead] we will see it moving up, becoming more productive really.”

Scroll down - the headline doesn't reflect his later thinking;
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/devastating-future-welsh-manufacturing-predicted-15323164

I guess he's allowed to change his mind as per the CBI and the Euro, Jeremy Corbyn and the “wholesale importation of underpaid workers from central Europe”...

At a slight tangent I noticed the delightful Tim Martin (poster boy of Brexit) is keen on getting staff to work as a cure for their coronavirus symptoms. In contradiction to most other companies ( and Acas advice) Wetherspoons have said normal rules will apply*

As far as I can make out Wetherspoons are following Acas advice:

The workplace's usual sick leave and pay entitlements apply if someone has coronavirus.

There's no legal ('statutory') right to pay if someone is not sick but cannot work because they:

have been told by a medical expert to self-isolate.
have had to go into quarantine are abroad in an affected area and are not allowed to travel back to the UK.

But it's good practice for their employer to treat it as sick leave and follow their usual sick pay policy or agree for the time to be taken as holiday.

www.acas.org.uk/coronavirus

The TUC are complaining that normal sick pay policy is not good enough but that's a different matter.

But more than half of voters did not vote Conservative. And some of those who did are now flooded and can't see the prime minister anywhere. Or worried about Covid and can't see any gov't action. Or dislike bullying as have seen it at their own workplace and are wondering if there can be smoke without fire.

You may be happy Xenia but, looking objectively, do you think this government has won or lost supporters since the election?

@Xenia, I’m sure some people like yourself are happy.
But fwiw, I also know of some Brexiters who voted for BJ who are deeply unhappy with him and he is doing.
The fact he hasn’t made any effort to come ‘up north’ to support areas Serioulsy affected by the floods for example hasn’t gone down well where I live, regardless of whether people are tories or labour voters.

I would just love to see this: Johnson and Cummings saying that the won't attend court, being summonsed to attend, then the same duo lying on oath - and committing perjury.
From the link;

"Even despite this campaign I was willing to effect a reconciliation with the home secretary, as requested by the cabinet secretary on behalf of the prime minister."

"But despite my efforts to engage with her, Priti Patel has made no effort to engage with me to discuss this."

I have seen the clip of him giving his statement, so I fail to see why you are bothering to cut and paste Clavinova. The important thing for me is that he refused to be bought off and accept the non disclosure agreement which would inevitably have gone with it. He could lose, but the whole event won't be pretty. Johnson and Cummings might wriggle out, but I can't see how Priti Patel can escape. I can see Patel opening her big mouth and then trying to lie her way out of it.

I fail to see why you are bothering to cut and paste Clavinova
The important thing for me is that he refused to be bought off and accept the non disclosure agreement which would inevitably have gone with it.

I was replying to your post here;

"I would just love to see this: Johnson and Cummings saying that the won't attend court, being summonsed to attend, then the same duo lying on oath - and committing perjury. Which as any fule know, carries a prison sentence."