It most certainly was a full-bodied stitch-up and Cummings got it right when he advised for a root and branch sort-out of the Civil Service. It never was great for UK plc, but since Blair & Co it has become a law unto itself.
Absolute bollards! I am just one of many ‘ex-servants’ who recognises it is now being run as an anti-right pressure group. It won’t be long before it resembles the old Ndrangheta. I retired just over 20yrs ago and I could see the undertow already forming with far too many joining the rolled up trouser leg brigade.
Radical plans to bring in more “politicisation” of Whitehall by allowing ministers greater powers to appoint their own civil servants – including some with overt political affiliations – are being considered by the government’s own adviser on the civil service.
Writing in today’s Observer, the Conservative peer and former Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, who is expected to report shortly to Rishi Sunak, says that in order for ministers to get the best advice possible, we need “to be more robust and less mealy mouthed about ‘politicisation’”. Maude’s ideas also include external auditing of advice given by civil servants to reward those who perform best.
Now that’s what I call a really good idea … fill the Civil Service with Tory Party yes-men and reward those who agree with their minister the most (the ‘external auditors’ being, of course ‘friends’ of the Party) …
ofcourse the bullying of Charles Kennedy by Ian Blackford resulting in Kennedy death was perfectly fine and so was the bullying of Dr David Kelly that resulted in his death - also perfectly fine and as for Bercow and Gordon Brown, who equally hurled abuse and threw things at people (in Bercows case), that was also perfectly OK.
But… tell a civil servant that their work isn’t up to scratch is definately a resigning offence.
Why didn’t Sunak back Raab like Johnson backed Patel ?
Why was Raab (a Brexiteer) replaced by another remainer ?
Let’s see if Sunak does the right thing and puts Raab back in cabinet in another position this week.
I was thinking about this some more today and one thing I’ve noticed in my time working is that it’s always the least competent, thickest and laziest bosses and managers who are the most critical and bullying towards their underlings
Loads of passing the buck and looking for a scapegoat if things go wrong and nasty temper because of their own shortcomings and fear of what they will lead to
While bosses and managers who are really good at what they do and are driven and motivated have the confidence to bring out the best work from other people, by example, personal high standards, personality and guidance
You have that spot on! Good top management should mean leading by example and a slack man/woman at the top leads to poor performance all the way down the ladder.
I don’t think they do, though, in private companies, or at least not in time before they do the damage
Who knows why?
Nepotism, favouritism, easier to keep than get rid, they’ve got used to them, they’ve been conned by them, they know they’re aggressive and mistake it for tough management?
Private business is very dependent on the judgement of the owners or directors and often they don’t have a clue but think they’re smart, until it starts going down the pan and they wonder why
Public business? I always went to the underlings and frontline managers first and asked them nicely!
That’s where the real knowledge and power lies
That’s something Raab and the other bullies should have remembered
And to be nice to the little people, they can make your life a lot easier or a living hell!
You’d be surprised at how long truly incompetent managers, even senior managers, survive. In large companies it appears to be quite easy to keep your job and still be an atrocious manager. I have worked with businesses in pretty much every industry sector except the public sector and come across really bad (and, to be fair, some really good) managers in all of them.
The UK’s biggest business group has admitted it hired “culturally toxic” staff and failed to fire people who sexually harassed female colleagues. The CBI said a failure to act allowed a “very small minority” of staff to believe they could get away with harassment or violence against women. The embattled lobby group said it has now dismissed a number of people.
In early April, a number of claims of misconduct and harassment against CBI staff emerged including one allegation of rape at the lobby group’s summer party in 2019. On Friday a second rape allegation emerged, whilst working at one of the CBI’s overseas offices. Both rape allegations are being investigated by the police.
In a letter responding to recommendations by law Fox Williams which was appointed to lead an independent investigation into the lobby group, the CBI admitted to its members:
It “tried to find resolution in sexual harassment cases when we should have removed those offenders from our business”
A failure to sack offenders led to a reluctance among women to formalise complaints
This allowed a “very small minority of staff with regressive - and, in some cases, abhorrent - attitudes towards their female colleagues to feel more assured in their behaviour, and more confident of not being detected”
It failed to filter out culturally toxic people during the hiring process
Promoted some mangers too quickly “without the necessary prior and ongoing training to protect our cultural values, and to properly react when those values were violated”
Paid “more attention to competence than to behaviour”
Failed to properly integrate new staff
The future of the CBI is hanging in the balance and it has suspended its operations until June while it tries to reform its workplace.
The Telegraph quotes Mr Raab as saying he is concerned about “the pressure the job has placed on my young family”.
Mr Raab confirmed to BBC News that he would not seek re-election as the MP for Esher and Walton, which he has represented since 2010 and won with a majority of 2,743 votes in 2019.
His departure from Parliament means the Conservatives will have to find a new candidate for the Surrey constituency - which is a key election target for the Liberal Democrats.
Mr Raab joins a growing number of senior Conservatives deciding not to stand in the next general election, expected in 2024.
Former ministers including Sajid Javid and George Eustice have also announced their intention to leave the House of Commons.
Raab has been Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government), Minister of State (Ministry of Justice), and has been an MP continuously since 6 May 2010.