Current Affairs

[oldbluefox]

Just shows what a good job Starmer & Co did in keeping that little snippet buried.

[Bensham33]

They didn't keep it buried they were open and up front about it as soon as it was leaked. No lies, no cover up's no parties, no treating the electorate as idiots, just a working dinner and if it was a party so what, plenty had them.

Sir Keir and the Labour Party are saints compared to what the Tories were up to.

[oldbluefox]

"as soon as it was leaked" but "the mistake" was not revealed before the media got hold of it.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Downing Street shouldn't have happened. Durham shouldn't have happened. Simple as that. Whether or not the latter was to the letter of the law the police will decide. It certainly wasn't in the spirit of the law. It was past 10pm. They should have packed up and gone to their own homes and hotels to eat. Where despite their lies room service was available. I'm afraid Sir H set him up for this fall when he kept banging on for months about parties and cakes. He tried to make political capital when far more important things were going on in the world. He and his supporters can't complain when it backfires.

[Kendhni]

Despite the government continually saying it will not impose windfall taxes or have an emergency budget (repeating these messages right up until yesterday), it looks like they are about do a massive u-turn due to continued pressure from the opposition parties ... finally they intend to do something meaningful to tackle the current cost of living crisis. After being virtually omitted from the Queens speech, I was concerned that they were still totally out of ideas and clueless to the real struggles that ordinary people are having.

Hopefully this shows that the government is recognising that not everyone in this country is a millionaire and will stop the out-of-touch and patronising commentary being issued from the tory party. So, assuming this government actually delivers, this is great news and what many have been waiting for.

[oldbluefox]

It is looking highly likely that Russia is going to have NATO on its doorstep, something which Putin has feared and worked against. Former neutral states now recognise the Soviet threat and are taking measures to protect themselves. Massive own goal by Putin.

[Gill W]

They didn't keep it buried they were open and up front about it as soon as it was leaked. No lies, no cover up's no parties, no treating the electorate as idiots, just a working dinner and if it was a party so what, plenty had them.

Sir Keir and the Labour Party are saints compared to what the Tories were up to.

Another 50 fines today for the Downing Street parties

[Stephen]

They didn't keep it buried they were open and up front about it as soon as it was leaked. No lies, no cover up's no parties, no treating the electorate as idiots, just a working dinner and if it was a party so what, plenty had them.

Sir Keir and the Labour Party are saints compared to what the Tories were up to.

Another 50 fines today for the Downing Street parties

Which will probably come out of the public purse.

[Mervyn and Trish]

A party that Boris wasn't at apparently. But I presume St Hindsight will demand his resignation again, once he's finished his curry.

[oldbluefox]

Of course there will be an assumption that all of those who have been fined are Tories. They are civil servants who happen to be working at No10 and will come from all manner of political persuasions.

[Bensham33]

Who's in charge of the civil servants at No 10?

[towny44]

Who's in charge of the civil servants at No 10?

Samantha Jones is the Principal private secretary (PPS) and is a civil servant in charge of all no 10 civil serva0nts, according to Mr Google.

[Bensham33]

And guess who appointed her? I wonder how many fines she got.

[Mervyn and Trish]

She was appointed by Boris in 2022 so even you can't blame her for parties before she arrived.

But that really is irrelevant. The nature of the Civil Service is that it is a career, often for life. There will be Civil Servants working within Downing Street who have been there for many years and who were appointed during the reign of Prime Ministers from both sides of the political fence.

[Stephen]

She was appointed by Boris in 2022 so even you can't blame her for parties before she arrived.

But that really is irrelevant. The nature of the Civil Service is that it is a career, often for life. There will be Civil Servants working within Downing Street who have been there for many years and who were appointed during the reign of Prime Ministers from both sides of the political fence.

Not for much longer for allot of people if Boris gets his way

Boris Johnson orders cuts to around 90,000 civil service jobs https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61432498

[Kendhni]

Well done Johnson, a solid and much needed move ... a cull of the deadwood paper pushers is a good first step.
Maybe we are entering a period of true austerity, unlike the pseudo-austerity of a decade ago.

[david63]

Well done Johnson, a solid and much needed move ... a cull of the deadwood paper pushers is a good first step.
Maybe we are entering a period of true austerity, unlike the pseudo-austerity of a decade ago.

It all depends on how this is done. If it is a true culling then that will be good but if it is a "sideways" move so they are still "establishment" employees but not classed as Civil Servants then nothing changes.

My father worked for Royal Mail, as it was back then, and they were Civil Servants but it was decided that it would no longer come under the Civil Service umbrella - still had same job, same pay, same pension, same everything - just worked for a different Government department. Things obviously changed when Royal Mail was privatised some years later.

[Kendhni]

According to news report this morning it would be mostly done through natural wastage and a recruitment freeze.

It is hard to believe that since 2016, some 91,000 civil servants have been employed.

[david63]

According to news report this morning it would be done through natural wastage and a recruitment freeze.

But that same report, or at least the one I read, said that natural wastage would take years. Even with "enforced" redundancies it will take until at least the end of the year.

This is just a smokescreen to try and appease some that the Government is doing something to help with the cost of living - nothing in this plan will affect Joe Public for at least 12 months.

I was reading only yesterday that Sunak has a £10 billion "slush fund" that he can use without any recourse to Parliament to ease the cost of living.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Maybe we are entering a period of true austerity, unlike the pseudo-austerity of a decade ago.

From the bitter complaints from the left wing at the time I think they'd disagree it was pseudo-austerity.

My father worked for Royal Mail, as it was back then, and they were Civil Servants but it was decided that it would no longer come under the Civil Service umbrella - still had same job, same pay, same pension, same everything - just worked for a different Government department.

My Dad too, are we related?

[david63]

My Dad too, are we related?

Only if you inherited my long lost fortune

[Kendhni]

According to news report this morning it would be done through natural wastage and a recruitment freeze.

But that same report, or at least the one I read, said that natural wastage would take years. Even with "enforced" redundancies it will take until at least the end of the year.

This is just a smokescreen to try and appease some that the Government is doing something to help with the cost of living - nothing in this plan will affect Joe Public for at least 12 months.

I agree to a certain extent, but as is often said "it is important to be seen to be doing something" and up until now the government has been devoid of ideas with any action taken being little more than rearranging deck chairs. Do I think Johnson has the capability to deliver slimming the civil service down by 20%? Let us wait and see, but I think it is a very important step towards the recovery of the economy, even if it does not impact JP immediately.

I was reading only yesterday that Sunak has a £10 billion "slush fund" that he can use without any recourse to Parliament to ease the cost of living.

I saw something about that as well ... maybe he is holding it reserve for his promised 'autumn' statement?

[Onelife]

I wonder if the cuts will include the wine waiters and cake maker?

[david63]

it is important to be seen to be doing something

We had a saying at work about some managers when trying to do something "confusing activity with action"

[Stephen]

My Dad too, are we related?

Only if you inherited my long lost fortune

How do you think he reached GOLDIE status