Here be more bullied (allegedly) snowflakes!
You have to laugh if you don’t want to cry: after their Raab-Victory, the serpents are at it again, with help from their friends in the MSM. See this: “Newspaper headlines: ‘More police boots on ground’ and Coronation invite ‘backlash’” (link) and scroll down a bit until you hit the grauniad. They lead with a report headlined “Health department officials ‘raised concerns’ about Steve Barclay’s behaviour”. (link)
This report has vanished from their online frontpage. One has to search to find it. To save your time, I fished it out. Yes, Raab was right: the bar has now been lowered so much that basically any serpent can go wailing to the MSM – anonymously, of course. This is borne out by the subtitle “Exclusive: civil servants have privately referred to ‘bullying’ by health secretary, sources say”. Here’s the juicy bit, do read it carefully: “The concerns over Barclay pre-date the publication of the Tolley report on the conduct of Dominic Raab, […]” (link).
Of course they don’t mention that Tolley trawled for ‘witnesses’ and examples across Whitehall in the Westminster press in November last year. Of course it’s totally inconceivable that therefore serpents in other departments might create a “MeToo” movement – before the publication of the Tolley Report! Of course it’s utterly inconceivable that perhaps the serpents’ trade union members could have been aware of the ‘complaints group’ in the DoJ which was referred to in the Tolley report!
No, the bullying ‘complaints’ are all very serious, showing ‘a breakdown’ of the relationship between Tory ministers and their ministerial minions, or so the Guardian claims. However, looking at the accusations does make one wonder:
“One source said there were “a lot of unhappy people at the Department of Health just now”, in part as a result of Barclay’s behaviour. Another said officials in his private office had “borne the brunt” of his behaviour. “Everyone finds him quite challenging,” said a third source.Two other Whitehall sources alleged that he had regularly “blasted” staff in full view of others in the office. One of these insiders said he was “constantly angry”, which was “very difficult” for officials, who now “don’t want to have meetings with him”. Another source claimed that there were occasions were [sic!] he “deliberately ignored” staff who tried to talk to him. A separate source added: “Barclay’s style is very macho … He would say that he’s forensic. But in reality he’s a micro-manager. He hauls people over the coals and is generally a bit unpleasant.” (link)
Omigawd! Look at all those anonymous ‘sources’! See how many of them there are: this is serious innit! ‘Deliberately ignoring staff who tried to talk to him’: I’ve never heard of such extreme bullying!
Apparently, some brave snowflakes mentioned this to the DHSC mandarin, Mr Chris Wormald. The intrepid gossip receiver, i.e. the grauniad reporter, didn’t ask when they complained to the mandarin. It surely would’ve been interesting to know if yon mandarin disregarded those wails. The DT picked up on this ‘exclusive’ and quoted a spokesman for Mr Barclay who said:
“[…] the claims were “totally untrue”, adding: “There has been no complaint of any kind to the Permanent Secretary. No one has made any complaint.” Asked about The Guardian’s suggestion that concerns fell short of a “formal” complaint, the spokesman said: “You either make a complaint or you don’t – you don’t engage in office gossip.” (paywalled link)
The point isn’t about engaging in office gossip which can poison the work atmosphere. It should be about poisonous office gossipers running to the MSM, anonymously, in the hope that ‘mud sticks’. Finally, see the official DHSC statement:
“A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “The department has not received any formal complaints relating to the behaviour of its ministers. Any complaints relating to ministers or members of staff would be investigated in line with departmental guidance.” (paywalled link)
Observing this latest Whitehall ‘drama’ from the sidelines, I ask myself if no official complaints were made because they were unsubstantiated, like those in the DoJ, according to the verdict of Mr Tolley. Why do we see such outbreak of bullying complaints all of a sudden? Perhaps this paragraph helps:
“Senior civil servants have shared concerns that officials may be deterred from putting in complaints about poor behaviour as a result, amid fears of stoking an already tense relationship. The former head of the UK civil service, Bob Kerslake, has called on Rishi Sunak to speak out against the “torrent of invective against the civil service” unleashed by Raab or risk a toxic environment in Whitehall. Some civil servants have expressed unease at the way bullying allegations are dealt with. The Guardian revealed last week that Downing Street had been urged to set up a new independent body to assess such claims.” (link)
Do mandarins want to have another ‘independent body’, spending time on wails about bullying such as being ‘disregarded’ – because they feel unable to deal with such complaints ‘in house’? More important is the accusation by mandarins that their ‘working relationship’ with Tory ministers has become ‘tense’, with the hit word ‘toxic’ introduced into the debate. Oddly enough, so far Labour hasn’t said a word, but there’s a comment by their lapdog:
“The Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Daisy Cooper, said: “This government hasn’t got a shred of integrity left. Each day we see more chaos, more sleaze and more scandal. “These latest reports are deeply disturbing and must be independently investigated as soon as possible.” (link)
Actually, I want an ‘independent body’ dealing with my complaints about bullying serpents making our lives a misery! ‘Disregarding’ someone is bullying. we’ve learned, and we plebs are being disregarded, are we not! It must be fun to be a minister when they know that going against the wishes of Whitehall will see the end of their career, regardless of the rosettes they sport, “because: bullying complaint!”
That’s all I have for today. Are we seeing a very British re-invention of Mao’s ‘Red Brigades’? Have a good day.
No Lisa,
You just resign yourself to the fact that nobody is going to take it up and certainly not do a damned thing about it.
Mrs May said
” Making it harder to catch and stop the traffickers and slave drivers”
I’ll say, when have they ever caught ANY traffickers or slave drivers.
Just words, words, words
Thank you for drawing our attention to another very perceptive piece by
Rodney Atkinson, Jack Thomas
I hope someone somewhere is listening andnd disseminates these truths widely
Interesting post from Freenations:
http://freenations.net/robert-kennedy-and-donald-trump-the-left-right-punch-to-corporatist-fascism/
Evil abounds.
How far our country has descended into a cesspit:
https://www.gbnews.com/news/migrant-crisis-suella-braverman-drug-dealing-prostitution
Who expected any other outcome apart from the morons in Westminster?
And another example failure and bias, this time with the police:
https://dailysceptic.org/2023/04/25/police-refuse-to-clear-roads-blocked-by-eco-loon-protestors-while-threatening-with-arrest-motorists-who-do-it-themselves/
Clearly they are not on our side.
Senior civil servants, ministers of various grades, and media editors, who together make up this psychodrama are a tiny proportion of the population. I estimate no more than 0.0005% of the electorate and not even more than 0.01% of the public sector. If, Ceausescu style, we were to put them up against a wall, about three clips of ammunition for an automatic rifle would be enough. Add in the cost of disposing of the bodies and the whole cleansing exercise might cost no more than a £1000. We could crowd fund that in no time.
Where do I sign SY?
Indeed Lisa.
All those people who were at school college and universities in the 80s and 90s , you remember perhaps, no male role models, non competetive examinations or sports, boys behaving badly according to their female teachers, and all of them according to their baby boomer grandparents and parents were actually wonderful with their college and university ‘degrees’ , well look where many of them are now. It seems that something went wrong somewhere didn’t it, maybe they should all work from home in their own personal ‘safe spaces’ where everyone can be nice and everyone can be a winner.
Whatever the denizens of Whitehall want to whinge about it seems that far too many are simply unfit for purpose at best. They would not survive in the real world.