[Politics] Matt Hancock/Government Break the Law

[taz]

Depressing how apoplectic some people get over a few statues of racists being removed or immigrants being given shelter but this just doesn’t seem to bother them.
Most corrupt government in modern times.
They rode in on the back of Brexit with the express purpose of rinsing the U.K. for all they can get their hands on. And if people die while they do that, they do not care less.
They all need slinging in jail. Scum.

so in the depths of a world wide pandemic, hospitals filling up, people dieing in their 100s every day, a world wide desperate shortage of protective equipment for front line nurses and doctors, you want to go through all the long procedures of inviting enough ethnic minority and disabled people to apply for employment positions to satisfy a 2015 act, thank god the lefties were not in charge!

 

[dsr-burnley]

Some people seem quite happy with a Government which happily breaks the law with impunity.

We've only got half a tale. Perhaps what should have happened was for the government to announce "this is a desperate emergency and we need to take action immediately, so we have started the process of appointing people to see us through the crisis and we hope to have an appointment within 6 weeks".

Could this emergency appointment have been filled after all due process without delaying the appointment? The articles I have seen, don't say. But I doubt it. All sorts of rules were changed by executive decree during the pandemic, and no doubt this one would have been too if they had thought of it.

 

[JC Footy Genius]

so in the depths of a world wide pandemic, hospitals filling up, people dieing in their 100s every day, a world wide desperate shortage of protective equipment for front line nurses and doctors, you want to go through all the long procedures of inviting enough ethnic minority and disabled people to apply for employment positions to satisfy a 2015 act, thank god the lefties were not in charge!

The very same people who were berating the government for not acting quickly enough are unsurprisingly, the ones trying to make the most of one aspect of this ruling now. A ruling that found most claims (oft repeated on here) re appointments being made because of nepotism and/or political connections (eg, corruption) against the government were without any foundation.

“The collective effect of the conclusions set out during this judgment is that*the claim brought by Good Law Project fails in its entirety. The claim by the Runnymede Trust fails on Grounds 1 and 3; it succeeds on Ground 2 only to the extent that the decisions on the process to be used when appointing to the positions of Interim Chair of NIHP in August 2020, and Director of Testing at NHSTT in September 2020 were made without compliance with the public sector equality duty





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[The Clamp]

so in the depths of a world wide pandemic, hospitals filling up, people dieing in their 100s every day, a world wide desperate shortage of protective equipment for front line nurses and doctors, you want to go through all the long procedures of inviting enough ethnic minority and disabled people to apply for employment positions to satisfy a 2015 act, thank god the lefties were not in charge!

What are you talking about? I’m not sure why I’m being quoted a year after my post but you seem to have misunderstood my post. And I’m no lefty.

 

[The Clamp]

Just for clarification, are they saying that the job could have been filled just as quickly and the equality rules still have been applied, or are they saying that it would have been better to delay the emergency appointments until the equality rules had all been followed?

It's just that it seems to me that in a pandemic emergency such as we had at the time, some corners would have to be cut. Does the ruling just look at the law as it stood at the time, or has it made any attempt to assess the impact on public health etc. if the appointments had not been made?

How interesting that all these corners that have been cut don’t seem to have benefited the public or frontline staff at all but do seem to have made a lot of the government’s pals incredible amounts of money. I’m sure that’s merely a coincidence?

 

[The Clamp]

Some people seem quite happy with a Government which happily breaks the law with impunity.

It’s easier to fool some people than it is to convince them they have been fooled. ‘twas ever thus. The type of government we have now is only possible if there are enough gullible people without the strength of character to think for themselves. Britain is not short of such mugs.

 

[dsr-burnley]

How interesting that all these corners that have been cut don’t seem to have benefited the public or frontline staff at all but do seem to have made a lot of the government’s pals incredible amounts of money. I’m sure that’s merely a coincidence?

I think you must be in a minority thinking that the appointment of Kate Bingham to roll out the vaccines, did not benefit either the public or the frontline staff.

 

[The Clamp]

I think you must be in a minority thinking that the appointment of Kate Bingham to roll out the vaccines, did not benefit either the public or the frontline staff.

I don’t think anyone can afford to be as naive as you, in these times.

 

[dsr-burnley]

I don’t think anyone can afford to be as naive as you, in these times.

They didn't go through the application process properly with Kate Bingham, just as they didn't with the other two mentioned in the case. They cut corners. It was of public benefit.

 

[clapham_gull]

It's not a binary argument. In certain instances they cut through public sector bureaucracy to get someone in place, in other instances they put people/things in place where clearly there were better alternatives.

They might have won this round of court cases but have lost a number of others.

I'd have more sympathy if the Government were completely transparent about what happened and why. Unfortunately they've had to be dragged to court on a number of occasions to simply put the evidence on the table.

In a normal world a Government would want to learn lessons and put everything in the public domain, so the country knows better next time.

Unfortunately it appears more focussed on protecting it's own reputation. They've politicised their response so you shouldn't be surprised that others (with their own agendas) are trying to take them down.

It's easy to fix but I'm not sure this current administration is capable of long term strategic thinking.

 

[Baldseagull]

I think you must be in a minority thinking that the appointment of Kate Bingham to roll out the vaccines, did not benefit either the public or the frontline staff.

She did a good job by most accounts, but then she apparently spent £650k of taxpayer money on a PR firm (connected with Dominic Cummings Father in law) to make sure we all thought she had done a good job, took credit for things her taskforce did not do, or did before she was appointed, and shared potentially sensitive information with US Financiers.
We were told that she was "uniquley qualified for the role" and as a venture capitalist that went to school with BoJo's sister and whose husband is a Tory Minister, I can see that she was.

Regardless of whether she performed well or not though, the way she was selected was not transparent, and her connections suggest that it wasn't a wide search.

 

[The Clamp]

They didn't go through the application process properly with Kate Bingham, just as they didn't with the other two mentioned in the case. They cut corners. It was of public benefit.

She lied her way through that role using a nepotistic PR firm. Not to mention her connections to the Johnson’s.
Very bad example that harms your argument.

 

[wellquickwoody]

And I’m no lefty.

 

[clapham_gull]

Well I'd defend Clamps on that because he doesn't strike me as as left wing at all, but I guess it depends from where you are looking.

The "left wing" at this current point in time waste too much energy attacking their own. The Owen Jones of this world (and we have a few on here) are far more likely to launch an attack on the current Labour Leader, defend Ken Livingstone and Corbyn to the hilt and launch bizarre attacks on the very same media outlets that the right wing are accusing of communism. I'm sure I'm considered deeply suspicious by many on here, but in reality the most fervent political criticism I got was for calling out Comrade Livingstone and his cronies.

The "right" have got themselves in an equally odd place where anyone daring to criticise the current administration is clearly a pinko. Irrespective of the fact that their leader is prone to shitting money down the drain on populist vanity projects in a way that a Central American Military junta would be proud of.

Statistically the vast majority on here would vote for either party gladly if they dropped the ideology. For Labour that means taking its head out of a 1970s arseh@le and for the Tories that means dropping the Trumpian neo-liberalism and sacking the young advisors who think that everyone lies on social media anyway.

In reality most are pointing at the current and thinking you wankers. That's doesn't make them left wing, only sensible.

 

[wellquickwoody]

Well I'd defend Clamps on that because he doesn't strike me as as left wing at all, but I guess it depends from where you are looking.

The "left wing" at this current point in time waste too much energy attacking their own. The Owen Jones of this world (and we have a few on here) are far more likely to launch an attack on the current Labour Leader, defend Ken Livingstone and Corbyn to the hilt and launch bizarre attacks on the very same media outlets that the right wing are accusing of communism. I'm sure I'm considered deeply suspicious by many on here, but in reality the most fervent political criticism I got was for calling out Comrade Livingstone and his cronies.

The "right" have got themselves in an equally odd place where anyone daring to criticise the current administration is clearly a pinko. Irrespective of the fact that their leader is prone to shitting money down the drain on populist vanity projects in a way that a Central American Military junta would be proud of.

Statistically the vast majority on here would vote for either party gladly if they dropped the ideology. For Labour that means taking its head out of a 1970s arseh@le and for the Tories that means dropping the Trumpian neo-liberalism and sacking the young advisors who think that everyone lies on social media anyway.

In reality most are pointing at the current and thinking you wankers. That's doesn't make them left wing, only sensible.

I gave Clampy a compliment about his best post ever (in my view) the other day. The post above attracts the same comment from me

You are spot on when saying it depends upon the viewing angle. I also mentioned recently that on the ‘political spectrum’ axis thingy I rated as only just right of centre. Many on here shot me to pieces for that

 

[The Clamp]

I can see how I may come across as a lefty. I do side with certain leftist arguments. But genuinely I’m more of a traditionalist but one who also believes the vulnerable in society should be looked after. Which I guess is how most people feel. Maybe I’m centrist with some leftist sympathies?
I’d love a decent conservative party to vote for. I’d love anyone decent to vote for right now!

 

[nicko31]

She did a good job by most accounts, but then she apparently spent £650k of taxpayer money on a PR firm (connected with Dominic Cummings Father in law) to make sure we all thought she had done a good job, took credit for things her taskforce did not do, or did before she was appointed, and shared potentially sensitive information with US Financiers.
We were told that she was "uniquley qualified for the role" and as a venture capitalist that went to school with BoJo's sister and whose husband is a Tory Minister, I can see that she was.

Regardless of whether she performed well or not though, the way she was selected was not transparent, and her connections suggest that it wasn't a wide search.

Everywhere you like there are always mates on the make...

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...cine-tsar-linked-to-dominic-cummings-12129261

As for the Harding case I think we need to unleash the government's anti-corruption champion. He'll sort it out...

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

The very same people who were berating the government for not acting quickly enough are unsurprisingly, the ones trying to make the most of one aspect of this ruling now. A ruling that found most claims (oft repeated on here) re appointments being made because of nepotism and/or political connections (eg, corruption) against the government were without any foundation.

“The collective effect of the conclusions set out during this judgment is that*the claim brought by Good Law Project fails in its entirety. The claim by the Runnymede Trust fails on Grounds 1 and 3; it succeeds on Ground 2 only to the extent that the decisions on the process to be used when appointing to the positions of Interim Chair of NIHP in August 2020, and Director of Testing at NHSTT in September 2020 were made without compliance with the public sector equality duty





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Spot on.

There always seems to be a lot of cake and eating it on these threads which is why I rarely bother.

I desperately want Boris to go, as he’s a pillock, but nobody, when the pandemic started, knew of the devastation and impact it would cause, and in government you are reacting to an ever changing situation.

Everything, is always easier in hindsight…..

 

[The Clamp]

Spot on.

There always seems to be a lot of cake and eating it on these threads which is why I rarely bother.

I desperately want Boris to go, as he’s a pillock, but nobody, when the pandemic started, knew of the devastation and impact it would cause, and in government you are reacting to an ever changing situation.

Everything, is always easier in hindsight…..

I totally see that side of the argument. Did they give these contracts out because it was the quickest way to get things done in an uncertain climate? You know, I’d love to give them the benefit of the doubt. I really would. But given how this government have conducted themselves in all other matters, does that seem likely?

Under Johnson, they have fumbled, fudged, bluffed, cheated, profiteered and lied their way through almost every aspect of governance. I simply don’t believe they acted in any other way than to see the pandemic as an opportunity to make themselves, their associates, donors and chums huge profits.

If they had even given contracts to friends that had some idea of what they were doing, I’d see my way to forgiving them, if the job had got done. But many of the contracts were awarded to companies and individuals that had no experience with things like PPE, companies that either failed to deliver or delivered vast amounts of unusable equipment.

Given their history on all matters of trust, I simply don’t believe they were acting in our interests.

 

[nicko31]

I totally see that side of the argument. Did they give these contracts out because it was the quickest way to get things done in an uncertain climate? You know, I’d love to give them the benefit of the doubt. I really would. But given how this government have conducted themselves in all other matters, does that seem likely?

Under Johnson, they have fumbled, fudged, bluffed, cheated, profiteered and lied their way through almost every aspect of governance. I simply don’t believe they acted in any other way than to see the pandemic as an opportunity to make themselves, their associates, donors and chums huge profits.

If they had even given contracts to friends that had some idea of what they were doing, I’d see my way to forgiving them, if the job had got done. But many of the contracts were awarded to companies and individuals that had no experience with things like PPE, companies that either failed to deliver or delivered vast amounts of unusable equipment.

Given their history on all matters of trust, I simply don’t believe they were acting in our interests.

Yep, hard to give this crime syndicate the benefit of the doubt. Just too much wrong doing and abuse of power and its still going on

At the end of the day it was unlawful appointment

An unlawful appointment that went on to waste billions

I wish the opposition was doing such a good job holding these people to account as the Good Law Project