[News] Post Office Scandal -

[Thunder Bolt]

Is that why he said he was “happy” there?

You can be happy in a place but still be ‘critical’ of some others there.

We’re happy at the Amex but see the behaviour of idiots at a game. Silly analogy but it’s all I can think of for now.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Thatcher’s acolyte - Tony Blair - pushed it on further.

Controversial.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Private Eye - and by extension HIGNFY - are the moral compass of the nation really. Ian Hislop must rank as one of the most deserving public figures to be awarded a title in any honours list, while at the same time being one of the least likely to be awarded one...

And scrupulously avoids any political bias.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I saw him in an interview once and he said when he started getting threatening letters from lawyers he figured he must be doing something right.

BBC have come out and said the same, I'd get why IH wouldn't push on further.

But the BBC should have reported this at the time, or at least questioned why they are so worried.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

A bit of political point scoring going on, with some immense aftertiming on this thread.

As usual, the buck stops with the electorate.

If we want to remove 'red tape' (regulation) and bring 'market forces' (privatization) into publicly owned companies, to make them more 'efficient' (profitable, especially for shareholders after privatization, tell Sid), then we have to accept the consequences.

I was disappointed that Blair continued to run with the 'public/private' model in organizations not fully privatized, but a majority seemed happy with it at the time.

There is a big distance between (perhaps naively) attempting to make public/private partnership work, and going balls-deep into facilitating sell-offs and deregulation 'for the boys' (and wives and potentially influential allies) with law changes to make it all possible with scant scrutiny or 'public good' ethos.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

If we want to remove 'red tape' (regulation) and bring 'market forces' (privatization) into publicly owned companies, to make them more 'efficient' (profitable, especially for shareholders after privatization, tell Sid)

What was that?

A bit of political point scoring going on, with some immense aftertiming on this thread.

As usual, the buck stops with the electorate.

If we want to remove 'red tape' (regulation) and bring 'market forces' (privatization) into publicly owned companies, to make them more 'efficient' (profitable, especially for shareholders after privatization, tell Sid), then we have to accept the consequences.

I was disappointed that Blair continued to run with the 'public/private' model in organizations not fully privatized, but a majority seemed happy with it at the time.

There is a big distance between (perhaps naively) attempting to make public/private partnership work, and going balls-deep into facilitating sell-offs and deregulation 'for the boys' (and wives and potentially influential allies) with law changes to make it all possible with scant scrutiny or 'public good' ethos.

My mum and dad both worked at the Post Office (many years ago).
My mum saw somebody working in the back office (who'd spent many years quite happily working on the counter) completely lose his shit with his computer to the point of picking it up and throwing it to the floor. Not an inconsiderable effort given this was a desktop computer circa 1990.
They put him back on the counters after that.
Lots of people working at the Post Office in those days weren't happy with the idea of being pressured to try and sell things rather than provide a service.

 

[Talby]

Controversial.

Controversial. ….

Blatcherism​

 

[Talby]

And scrupulously avoids any political bias.

Everyone is fair game.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

What was that?

My mum and dad both worked at the Post Office (many years ago).
My mum saw somebody working in the back office (who'd spent many years quite happily working on the counter) completely lose his shit with his computer to the point of picking it up and throwing it to the floor. Not an inconsiderable effort given this was a desktop computer circa 1990.
They put him back on the counters after that.
Lots of people working at the Post Office in those days weren't happy with the idea of being pressured to try and sell things rather than provide a service.

So did mine. GPO telephonist (till becoming a mother/'housewife' in the 1950s) and GPO teleprinter engineer.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

So did mine. GPO telephonist (till becoming a mother/'housewife' in the 1950s) and GPO teleprinter engineer.

I won't go into what my mum and dad did.
Apparently it was all somewhat SCANDALOUS at the time.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Going to see this in May

 

[Sirnormangall]

I can see your point but I don't think more regulation is always the answer. My opinion is there is a belief in government that the regulator is effective and trustworthy and the workers aren't but what if it's the other way round? There was recently the teacher suicide case and Ofsted. In the health service we get CQC inspections which are a disaster for primary care - loads of admin/bureaucracy which force practices to merge/get larger, which ruins continuity of care (ie you never see the same doctor twice). The government seem to think we all need to be checked up on all the time but who regulates the regulators? Remember Carl Beech? He was convicted of child abuse, and accused others (falsely) of abuse. What was his job (at one point at least)? - A CQC inspector!

I agree. I just think in the case of the PO there seems to have been a distinct lack of accountability and an absence of independent challenge or supervision that might have been expected of a decent regulator.

 

[beorhthelm]

I agree. I just think in the case of the PO there seems to have been a distinct lack of accountability and an absence of independent challenge or supervision that might have been expected of a decent regulator.

make the observation there wasn't a regulator to be involved and challenge anything. normally regulators concern themselves with consumer protection or compliance with laws. here the victims were sub-contractors and the laws were fraud prevention, which managment zealously applied - they saw themselves as the regulator role.

 

[clapham_gull]

The political point scoring is incredible depressing.

This was a failure of the state, the establishment whatever you want to call it.

 

[vegster]

Mrs DiS spent a lifetime in education latterly at senior levels. She was constantly fulminating against the “one word” verdict of OFSTED inspections - outstanding, satisfactory, etc. This is precisely what led to the suicide.
Such things were often dictated by something in the nature of the School’s circumstances - the nature of the neighbourhood in which it worked, the social class of its intake. It could result in things like recognition of just how well you are doing with a difficult group of kids, but they can’t mark you highly because of something like the level of absences in the school.
at least if Labour come in to power they have said they will deal with this and make the process more nuanced and supportive.

So many scandalous issues in daily life, society as an ideal is falling apart. We need a government that " works " for everyone in society. We need investment in our key services such as health, education and social services.

 

[Norman Potting]

Watching this continuing slow motion car crash unfold I hope that those affected are swiftly recompensed and those responsible receive a suitable kicking.

On a somewhat lighter note I that there is a firm of solicitors involved in the debacle by the name of Womble Bond Dickinson. Certainly somewhat more involved than litter picking on Wimbledon Common.

 

[Bodian]

Watching this continuing slow motion car crash unfold I hope that those affected are swiftly recompensed and those responsible receive a suitable kicking.

On a somewhat lighter note I that there is a firm of solicitors involved in the debacle by the name of Womble Bond Dickinson. Certainly somewhat more involved than litter picking on Wimbledon Common.

Pretty big organisation. Like many solicitors, some of their letters don't come from actual individuals. I'm dealing with them at the moment, and my first response was 'Dear Womble Bond Dickinson'. I was very tempted to just write 'Dear Womble'.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Watching this continuing slow motion car crash unfold I hope that those affected are swiftly recompensed and those responsible receive a suitable kicking.

On a somewhat lighter note I that there is a firm of solicitors involved in the debacle by the name of Womble Bond Dickinson. Certainly somewhat more involved than litter picking on Wimbledon Common.

I worked in a building where they had an office for a while.
I was torn on whether I found their name more amusing than Schindler's Lift, which the building also had.

 

[METALMICKY]

I worked in a building where they had an office for a while.
I was torn on whether I found their name more amusing than Schindler's Lift, which the building also had.

The indoor parking for the Beacon Centre in Eastbourne has those lifts and it always amuses

 

[Thunder Bolt]

The calibre of a Conservative MP at the Post Office enquiry. Really?