Except the two of them have never met, have never spoken, and the whole interview was generated using ChatGPT and speech tools to mimic their voices. Sounds scarily realistic.
@estwebber 6m Julian Knight announces he's standing aside as DCMS select committee chair saying he has "no choice given my decision to remain an independent"
Comes after we reported MPs were unhappy with his continued presence as chair...
I’m self employed and have worked in an office once for about 3 hours. But if the descriptions on here of UK office life are correct - a boss must not even raise a hand to interrupt someone speaking - then it is not surprising the country is going down the shitter. What a tsunami of snowflakiness
You just said it all @Leon. You have no experience of working in an office. As you are not easily offended I must put up my hand and tell you to shut up because you don't know what the fuck you are talking about. Are you still feeling motivated to work hard for me?
Doesn't the language you've just used count as bullying?
Question - why the PB right wing so desperate to hurl themselves to the ground in defence of Raab?
Was he effective in office? No - caught as rabbit in the headlights repeatedly. Caught on a beach doing nothing as Kabul fell. Caught terrorising the MoJ claiming to be dynamic and demanding but achieving nothing at all.
It doen't matter if the PB right considers this to be bullying - the civil service does. The Prime Minister does. Raab is a bully and has now gone. If there are any snowflakes on this subject it isn't the civil servants, its @leon et al flapping about it.
I'd forgotten this story. ...During a discussion of Raab’s conduct, Ministry of Justice officials were told by Foreign Office counterparts that “people had died” in the Afghanistan evacuation because of Dom’s refusal to review documents in formats he didn’t like...
I’m self employed and have worked in an office once for about 3 hours. But if the descriptions on here of UK office life are correct - a boss must not even raise a hand to interrupt someone speaking - then it is not surprising the country is going down the shitter. What a tsunami of snowflakiness
You have worked in an office/had a boss for 3 hours longer than me so collectively our wisdom about the workplace boss seems to be (to coin a word) unsurpassable.
PG Wodehouse is, as so often, the source of light. 1) Having a boss is generally to be avoided (Wodehouse passim) 2) If you have one don't choose Spode (Code of the Woosters etc) 3) Raab is Spode (take a glance, and think of Black Shorts)
I've thought of Raab as more Alan B'Stard....
"If your IQ was any lower, you'd need watering...."
Alex Ferguson was an abrasive boss. He would famously give under performing players the “hairdryer” treatment
He was also one of the most successful club managers of all time
The idea that all good bosses must be these lovely emollient encouraging types is nonsense. Different management styles can be equally effective
Says the man who has already outlined his credentials in this debate.
Nobody is saying that bosses need to be "lovely emollient encouraging types". A boss does not need to be nice. He/she does not need to be liked. It helps if they are respected. Raab is clearly a jerk with no leadership or management skill, and probably isn't even respected by his mother.
Sunak, who it appears to me has both to some degree has ruthlessly fired him (through facilitating his resignation). It is a good call.
Bosses who think they are Alex Ferguson calibre are probably not Alex Ferguson calibre!
It is also questionable as to how good a leader Fergusson was, because one of the most important aspects of leadership is succession, so when we look at how MU performed post departure it could be argued there was a strong failure of leadership on Fergusson's part
It is also questionable how giod a leader was because, frankly, winning the league two times out of three shoukd only be about par when your resources are so much greater than everyone else's. It was notable that Man Utd's dominance waned rather as the extent to which its riches exceeded those of other clubs waned. Ferguson's biggest achievment was winning the ECWC with Aberdeen.
Eh? He established Man Utd as dominant from being not far from the equivalent of Spurs today. It was in no sense gifted to him. Liverpool were dominant, and Man Utd not ahead of Arsenal or even Everton at the time. He maintained it for two decades, re-inventing the team repeatedly.
But that's only where they should have been, given how much richer they were than every other club. They had the resources to buy all the best players: no great surprise that they are then the best team. I'm not saying that Ferguson was a bad manager - just that leading the richest club to success isn't necessarily a massive test.
But Ferguson made them the richest club! Liverpool were the dominant club and attracted the best players when he took over. Ferguson started in 1986 and it wasn't until the mid nineties, after they had won the title, that United started getting the choice of best players.
I’m self employed and have worked in an office once for about 3 hours. But if the descriptions on here of UK office life are correct - a boss must not even raise a hand to interrupt someone speaking - then it is not surprising the country is going down the shitter. What a tsunami of snowflakiness
You just said it all @Leon. You have no experience of working in an office. As you are not easily offended I must put up my hand and tell you to shut up because you don't know what the fuck you are talking about. Are you still feeling motivated to work hard for me?
Look at Hitler. If you fucked up on the job with Adolf he would have you hung very slowly on hooks so you took hours to die then he would watch the film of the killing later
Result? Autobahns.
Raab’s problem was being too WEAK with his underlings if this facile report is anything to go by
Even if you put aside the evil, Hitler was a massive fuck-up who destroyed his country. He was a failure even in purely Machiavellian terms.
That’s a ridiculous black and white way of looking at Hitler. Yes, the Holocaust was bad - I don’t think there are many on here, besides @Dura_Ace who would really try to defend it. For the very good reason that it’s indefensible. You can’t gas six million people and blame it on human error or a good idea gone wrong. It was simply - to my mind - wrong. I make no apology for using blunt words. WRONG
However Hitler must be taken in the round. The fact is, if he hadn’t been a pretty “abrasive” man manager the Germans would still be driving around on B roads
That's just bullshit though. Every northern European culture has built motorways. Germany was of course going to do it, being a particularly high productivity, innovative and efficient national culture. Hitler actually overspent to deliver his big projects, and the financial losses at the macro level were only kept afloat as long as they were via plunder. Which required a war that got Germany pummelled into the sand.
Even completely ignoring the Holocaust, Hitler was a drug-addled fuck-up that ruined his country and had to top himself as a quivering wreck in an underground basement.
Mate, I’m joking. It’s a comic riff. It might be a shit comic riff but it’s certainly not meant to be taken seriously
I’m just in a benign mood. It’s almost gin o clock in Bangkok and the night is sultry indeed
A 'comic riff' ... lol ... sounding very like David Brent here.
Dominic Raab is both incompetent in his work and a highly unpleasant colleague to deal with, and doesn't have anything much going for him. We know that already. Is he vindicated because the report doesn't have a smoking gun in it, or should he never have been the Deputy PM in the first place?
Both, I'd argue.
Very strange that he has resigned if he was vindicated!
"He may be a bit of a bully, but he's nowhere near as bad as Gordon Brown, Alex Ferguson or Adolf Hitler".
Ferguson is a genuinely interesting one, the other two are silly. Fergie was undoubtedly a bully at times and undoubtedly successful with longevity.
But, lots of Premier League clubs tried to replicate him, indeed by 2011 there were 7 managers from Glasgow. The likes of Malky Mackay, Billy Davies and Alex McCleish were disasters leading their clubs to long term decline.
It is not impossible to manage successfully with that style in certain contexts but the winners are very rare.
Successful chefs are supposed to be often very toxic managers. I've worked in a few kitchens and found the light-touch approach works best. But I've never worked with anyone like Michelin star winning chef. Has anyone got any experience of this?
Worked as an F&B manager a couple of decades ago, nowhere near Michelin star but restaurants and and function rooms. Plenty of food and equipment sent flying across the room, by the senior chefs. Not every day, not even every week, but every so often the lid would blow on the pressure cooker.
AIUI, at the very top, there are way more Gordon Ramsay types, than Heston Blumental types.
I heard one story about an exceptionally famous chef that if it ever went public would result in criminal charges and probably prison time
The top chefs are also often outrageous womanisers
I’m self employed and have worked in an office once for about 3 hours. But if the descriptions on here of UK office life are correct - a boss must not even raise a hand to interrupt someone speaking - then it is not surprising the country is going down the shitter. What a tsunami of snowflakiness
You just said it all @Leon. You have no experience of working in an office. As you are not easily offended I must put up my hand and tell you to shut up because you don't know what the fuck you are talking about. Are you still feeling motivated to work hard for me?
Look at Hitler. If you fucked up on the job with Adolf he would have you hung very slowly on hooks so you took hours to die then he would watch the film of the killing later
Result? Autobahns.
Raab’s problem was being too WEAK with his underlings if this facile report is anything to go by
This isn't what arguments ending in Nazi Germany is supposed to mean.......
I haven't read the report - but this situation highlights one of my chief worries about our system - that is, how can a minister enact a policy that his civil servants fundamentally don't want to do?
It’s not obvious this is an issue at all, except in the minds of the Brexity-blob tendency.
I’m pretty sure the civil service were not totally on board with Thatcherism, for example.
I’m self employed and have worked in an office once for about 3 hours. But if the descriptions on here of UK office life are correct - a boss must not even raise a hand to interrupt someone speaking - then it is not surprising the country is going down the shitter. What a tsunami of snowflakiness
You just said it all @Leon. You have no experience of working in an office. As you are not easily offended I must put up my hand and tell you to shut up because you don't know what the fuck you are talking about. Are you still feeling motivated to work hard for me?
Look at Hitler. If you fucked up on the job with Adolf he would have you hung very slowly on hooks so you took hours to die then he would watch the film of the killing later
Result? Autobahns.
Raab’s problem was being too WEAK with his underlings if this facile report is anything to go by
Even if you put aside the evil, Hitler was a massive fuck-up who destroyed his country. He was a failure even in purely Machiavellian terms.
That’s a ridiculous black and white way of looking at Hitler. Yes, the Holocaust was bad - I don’t think there are many on here, besides @Dura_Ace who would really try to defend it. For the very good reason that it’s indefensible. You can’t gas six million people and blame it on human error or a good idea gone wrong. It was simply - to my mind - wrong. I make no apology for using blunt words. WRONG
However Hitler must be taken in the round. The fact is, if he hadn’t been a pretty “abrasive” man manager the Germans would still be driving around on B roads
That's just bullshit though. Every northern European culture has built motorways. Germany was of course going to do it, being a particularly high productivity, innovative and efficient national culture. Hitler actually overspent to deliver his big projects, and the financial losses at the macro level were only kept afloat as long as they were via plunder. Which required a war that got Germany pummelled into the sand.
Even completely ignoring the Holocaust, Hitler was a drug-addled fuck-up that ruined his country and had to top himself as a quivering wreck in an underground basement.
I hope you and other do realise that @Leon is pulling your legs? Quite amusingly so.
I haven't read the report - but this situation highlights one of my chief worries about our system - that is, how can a minister enact a policy that his civil servants fundamentally don't want to do?
They do it all the time. Part of being a civil servant is understanding that your job is to deliver the policies of the government of the day, unless it's actively illegal* or impossible. The idea that civil servants (who range from diplomats to jobcentre workers to rural bee inspectors and much more beside) act with a kind of professional unanimity is misguided, even the tiny proportion of them that fit the popular Sir Humphrey image of what a civil servant is. While I'm sure there are probably loads of examples of 'that can't be done, Minister', I very much doubt there are many at all of 'I refuse to do that, Minister'.
Alex Ferguson was an abrasive boss. He would famously give under performing players the “hairdryer” treatment
SAF balanced that abrasiveness with integrity, honesty, consistency and occasionally emoullience. Raab did not. He was just a nasty shit who was out of his depth.
I blame the BBC.
Mostly because watching The Apprentice is as close as most of us get to seeing how top business works, and we don't know enough to recognise that it's a comedy show really.
Actually, the BBC seem to think that The Apprentice is how top business works, too;
More @BBC LR #HungerGames “We were given 60 seconds to save our career and had to treat it like a speed date. We were timed with the stop watch but not shown the clock. It all felt so degrading, I was timed as 2 seconds out. It’s honestly been worst 6 months of my career”
The Local Radio cuts might be the next saucepan of shit to boil over. Yes, it's Local Radio, but its listeners are older people in the provinces.
I hate The Apprentice with a passion. Anyone who thinks that the interview stage is an effective way to evaluate someone is completely out of touch. It is a cringing embarrassment to anyone in business along with "Dragon's Den"
The Apprentice is one of those TV shows that has lasted much longer than it ever should have done, probably because it is relatively cheap to make. First four or five series were genuinely entertaining and humorous (it’s never been about business in truth, more about sending up the David Brent types who go on it). Now it’s repetitive and lame.
Former client in Romania won't pay invoices (comfortably 5 figures) until tax residency certificate is sent. After 2 months of faff from HMRC - including them sending them to the wrong address - I finally sent the certificate to Romania via Royal Mail tracked and signed last week.
3-5 business days.
Website has the letter scanned out of Aberdeen bound for Heathrow a week ago, And then? Nothing! Customer service lady apologetic, said after a recent cyber attack their scanning system is not working. So they are selling tracking, but can't actually track!
Said they don't get scan data from Romania anyway (despite selling it) so has no idea if it is in Romania or Heathrow but "should be". It isn't counted as lost for another month so they don't care...
I obtained 2 copies of my tax residency certificate. At this rate I will be on Ryanair to Bucharest with that copy...
DHL / FEDEX or equivalent should give you properly tracked delivery for high value documents.
DHL is an option.
It’s almost worth getting on the plane yourself with it, first thing Monday morning. Done that before, for things that really had to be somewhere on time.
Except the two of them have never met, have never spoken, and the whole interview was generated using ChatGPT and speech tools to mimic their voices. Sounds scarily realistic.
Question - why the PB right wing so desperate to hurl themselves to the ground in defence of Raab?
Was he effective in office? No - caught as rabbit in the headlights repeatedly. Caught on a beach doing nothing as Kabul fell. Caught terrorising the MoJ claiming to be dynamic and demanding but achieving nothing at all.
It doen't matter if the PB right considers this to be bullying - the civil service does. The Prime Minister does. Raab is a bully and has now gone. If there are any snowflakes on this subject it isn't the civil servants, its @leon et al flapping about it.
Er, if you read the thread you won’t find anyone - on left or right, Leave or Remain - defending Raab on the basis of his achievements. Quite the opposite
What some of us are questioning is whether this report proves any real bullying, and also whether this is a stitch up of Raab by his minions. There is a hint of that
More importantly I’ve just noticed yet another new skyscraper in the Bangkok skyline. The energy in Asia is amazing
Question - why the PB right wing so desperate to hurl themselves to the ground in defence of Raab?
Was he effective in office? No - caught as rabbit in the headlights repeatedly. Caught on a beach doing nothing as Kabul fell. Caught terrorising the MoJ claiming to be dynamic and demanding but achieving nothing at all.
It doen't matter if the PB right considers this to be bullying - the civil service does. The Prime Minister does. Raab is a bully and has now gone. If there are any snowflakes on this subject it isn't the civil servants, its @leon et al flapping about it.
I'll be disappointed if I don't see a Raabit In The Headlights headline.
Being a demanding boss is not the same as being a bully. But the behaviour of a demanding boss is very different. A good, demanding boss who wants high standards needs to motivate their workforce. They take the time to talk through the feedback they are giving, explain how they need things to be different next time, and address any concerns and (crucially) take on board feedback themselves. They act as mentor, not dragon.
The impression I get in this instance is Raab is hiding behind the “demanding boss” line but actually his leadership style was poor and demotivating.
It's also important to respect hierarchy: Raab is quite entitled to shout at senior staff. But he shouldn't be shouting at underlings of underlings.
Well, unless the senior civil servants don't take responsibility for the shoddy work of their underlings. "If there's criticism to be made, Minister, then it is I you should be criticising." I wonder how many times Raab heard that? If ever.
I hope Raab does a double page spread for the Daily Mail about what a bunch of shits the top of the Civil Service contains. Let's open this up.
@IsabelHardman Sunak didn’t tell Raab to resign, I understand from No10 sources. Some Tory MPs I’ve spoken to this morning say this makes it an honourable resignation - others wondering if it makes the PM just a commentator at the side of his own govt.
Yea, right. Sunak handed his friend the whisky bottle and the revolver. Only Sunak detractors will see it otherwise.
The Civil Service piled in on Raab. The great majority of charges against him were not upheld.
Bear that in mind in future.
However, on those two that were, it is clear that Rishi feels they were resigning matters. If Raab couldn't see that too, then he was the problem. As a result, he did not have Rishi's confidence. He had to go.
Maybe they "piled in" on him because he was a bully and therefore deserved the pile on? As @Ghedebrav has commented, there has been no-such accusations made against arch-Brexiteer Gove, or any of the other numerous Brexiteers. Although I don't think you are necessarily saying it, but this paranoid suggestion by some that it is because he was a leaver is fatuous.
If they were not substantive complaints he didn't deserve a pile on including them - a case is not made stronger by including them.
They weren't included. Read the report.
I will get to it when I can. But plenty of the leaks about them were on the minor end and no need to look at.
"He may be a bit of a bully, but he's nowhere near as bad as Gordon Brown, Alex Ferguson or Adolf Hitler".
Ferguson is a genuinely interesting one, the other two are silly. Fergie was undoubtedly a bully at times and undoubtedly successful with longevity.
But, lots of Premier League clubs tried to replicate him, indeed by 2011 there were 7 managers from Glasgow. The likes of Malky Mackay, Billy Davies and Alex McCleish were disasters leading their clubs to long term decline.
It is not impossible to manage successfully with that style in certain contexts but the winners are very rare.
Successful chefs are supposed to be often very toxic managers. I've worked in a few kitchens and found the light-touch approach works best. But I've never worked with anyone like Michelin star winning chef. Has anyone got any experience of this?
Worked as an F&B manager a couple of decades ago, nowhere near Michelin star but restaurants and and function rooms. Plenty of food and equipment sent flying across the room, by the senior chefs. Not every day, not even every week, but every so often the lid would blow on the pressure cooker.
AIUI, at the very top, there are way more Gordon Ramsay types, than Heston Blumental types.
I heard one story about an exceptionally famous chef that if it ever went public would result in criminal charges and probably prison time
The top chefs are also often outrageous womanisers
I worked in one hotel, where the head chef spent three months living in his car around the corner from work. He’d been boning the 17-year-old trainee commis chef, his wife discovered it and kicked him out.
Except the two of them have never met, have never spoken, and the whole interview was generated using ChatGPT and speech tools to mimic their voices. Sounds scarily realistic.
Alex Ferguson was an abrasive boss. He would famously give under performing players the “hairdryer” treatment
He was also one of the most successful club managers of all time
The idea that all good bosses must be these lovely emollient encouraging types is nonsense. Different management styles can be equally effective
Says the man who has already outlined his credentials in this debate.
Nobody is saying that bosses need to be "lovely emollient encouraging types". A boss does not need to be nice. He/she does not need to be liked. It helps if they are respected. Raab is clearly a jerk with no leadership or management skill, and probably isn't even respected by his mother.
Sunak, who it appears to me has both to some degree has ruthlessly fired him (through facilitating his resignation). It is a good call.
Bosses who think they are Alex Ferguson calibre are probably not Alex Ferguson calibre!
It is also questionable as to how good a leader Fergusson was, because one of the most important aspects of leadership is succession, so when we look at how MU performed post departure it could be argued there was a strong failure of leadership on Fergusson's part
It is also questionable how giod a leader was because, frankly, winning the league two times out of three shoukd only be about par when your resources are so much greater than everyone else's. It was notable that Man Utd's dominance waned rather as the extent to which its riches exceeded those of other clubs waned. Ferguson's biggest achievment was winning the ECWC with Aberdeen.
SAF also had the best goalkeeper, central defence and captain in Britain when he won the ECWC. Leighton, Miller and McLeish. Raab has the Albion Rovers equivalent.
"He may be a bit of a bully, but he's nowhere near as bad as Gordon Brown, Alex Ferguson or Adolf Hitler".
Ferguson is a genuinely interesting one, the other two are silly. Fergie was undoubtedly a bully at times and undoubtedly successful with longevity.
But, lots of Premier League clubs tried to replicate him, indeed by 2011 there were 7 managers from Glasgow. The likes of Malky Mackay, Billy Davies and Alex McCleish were disasters leading their clubs to long term decline.
It is not impossible to manage successfully with that style in certain contexts but the winners are very rare.
Successful chefs are supposed to be often very toxic managers. I've worked in a few kitchens and found the light-touch approach works best. But I've never worked with anyone like Michelin star winning chef. Has anyone got any experience of this?
My daughter has. She attributes the very high turnover in the chef world to the behaviour of many head chefs. They're not all like that, though; she worked for Ottolenghi and thought he was great.
"He may be a bit of a bully, but he's nowhere near as bad as Gordon Brown, Alex Ferguson or Adolf Hitler".
Ferguson is a genuinely interesting one, the other two are silly. Fergie was undoubtedly a bully at times and undoubtedly successful with longevity.
But, lots of Premier League clubs tried to replicate him, indeed by 2011 there were 7 managers from Glasgow. The likes of Malky Mackay, Billy Davies and Alex McCleish were disasters leading their clubs to long term decline.
It is not impossible to manage successfully with that style in certain contexts but the winners are very rare.
Successful chefs are supposed to be often very toxic managers. I've worked in a few kitchens and found the light-touch approach works best. But I've never worked with anyone like Michelin star winning chef. Has anyone got any experience of this?
Worked as an F&B manager a couple of decades ago, nowhere near Michelin star but restaurants and and function rooms. Plenty of food and equipment sent flying across the room, by the senior chefs. Not every day, not even every week, but every so often the lid would blow on the pressure cooker.
AIUI, at the very top, there are way more Gordon Ramsay types, than Heston Blumental types.
One of the problems is booze. Lots of chefs appear to be alcoholics or damn near it. Long ago, I worked with a very good French chef (he was English but trained in the classical French style) who would sink 6-7 pints of premium lager within an hour or so of service ending each night. So, every day, he'd show up hungover and thus in a foul mood.
He was very mean to the waitresses to the point that they all dreaded being on the pass and had to strictly rota to minimise their exposure to the kitchen. He lasted longer than he should have done because he was an excellent cook and they were few and far between in the northern city I was living in at the time.
Sadly, catering does rather encourage alcoholism – I am led to believe that such experiences aren't that rare.
@IsabelHardman Sunak didn’t tell Raab to resign, I understand from No10 sources. Some Tory MPs I’ve spoken to this morning say this makes it an honourable resignation - others wondering if it makes the PM just a commentator at the side of his own govt.
Yea, right. Sunak handed his friend the whisky bottle and the revolver. Only Sunak detractors will see it otherwise.
The Civil Service piled in on Raab. The great majority of charges against him were not upheld.
Bear that in mind in future.
However, on those two that were, it is clear that Rishi feels they were resigning matters. If Raab couldn't see that too, then he was the problem. As a result, he did not have Rishi's confidence. He had to go.
Maybe they "piled in" on him because he was a bully and therefore deserved the pile on? As @Ghedebrav has commented, there has been no-such accusations made against arch-Brexiteer Gove, or any of the other numerous Brexiteers. Although I don't think you are necessarily saying it, but this paranoid suggestion by some that it is because he was a leaver is fatuous.
If they were not substantive complaints he didn't deserve a pile on including them - a case is not made stronger by including them.
They weren't included. Read the report.
I will get to it when I can. But plenty of the leaks about them were on the minor end and no need to look at.
Regarding 'most of them', the report specifically excluded looking into most of the complaints, so you can't draw that conclusion.
Alex Ferguson was an abrasive boss. He would famously give under performing players the “hairdryer” treatment
He was also one of the most successful club managers of all time
The idea that all good bosses must be these lovely emollient encouraging types is nonsense. Different management styles can be equally effective
Says the man who has already outlined his credentials in this debate.
Nobody is saying that bosses need to be "lovely emollient encouraging types". A boss does not need to be nice. He/she does not need to be liked. It helps if they are respected. Raab is clearly a jerk with no leadership or management skill, and probably isn't even respected by his mother.
Sunak, who it appears to me has both to some degree has ruthlessly fired him (through facilitating his resignation). It is a good call.
Bosses who think they are Alex Ferguson calibre are probably not Alex Ferguson calibre!
It is also questionable as to how good a leader Fergusson was, because one of the most important aspects of leadership is succession, so when we look at how MU performed post departure it could be argued there was a strong failure of leadership on Fergusson's part
It is also questionable how giod a leader was because, frankly, winning the league two times out of three shoukd only be about par when your resources are so much greater than everyone else's. It was notable that Man Utd's dominance waned rather as the extent to which its riches exceeded those of other clubs waned. Ferguson's biggest achievment was winning the ECWC with Aberdeen.
Eh? He established Man Utd as dominant from being not far from the equivalent of Spurs today. It was in no sense gifted to him. Liverpool were dominant, and Man Utd not ahead of Arsenal or even Everton at the time. He maintained it for two decades, re-inventing the team repeatedly.
Coincidental with the creation of the PL massively increasing their financial power relative to their competitors.
"He may be a bit of a bully, but he's nowhere near as bad as Gordon Brown, Alex Ferguson or Adolf Hitler".
Ferguson is a genuinely interesting one, the other two are silly. Fergie was undoubtedly a bully at times and undoubtedly successful with longevity.
But, lots of Premier League clubs tried to replicate him, indeed by 2011 there were 7 managers from Glasgow. The likes of Malky Mackay, Billy Davies and Alex McCleish were disasters leading their clubs to long term decline.
It is not impossible to manage successfully with that style in certain contexts but the winners are very rare.
Successful chefs are supposed to be often very toxic managers. I've worked in a few kitchens and found the light-touch approach works best. But I've never worked with anyone like Michelin star winning chef. Has anyone got any experience of this?
Worked as an F&B manager a couple of decades ago, nowhere near Michelin star but restaurants and and function rooms. Plenty of food and equipment sent flying across the room, by the senior chefs. Not every day, not even every week, but every so often the lid would blow on the pressure cooker.
AIUI, at the very top, there are way more Gordon Ramsay types, than Heston Blumental types.
I heard one story about an exceptionally famous chef that if it ever went public would result in criminal charges and probably prison time
The top chefs are also often outrageous womanisers
Catering also encourages that. Tends to have lots of pretty girls as waitresses working late with free booze on tap and male chefs in powerful positions. Do the math, as they don't say in the 7th arrondissement.
Dominic Raab is both incompetent in his work and a highly unpleasant colleague to deal with, and doesn't have anything much going for him. We know that already. Is he vindicated because the report doesn't have a smoking gun in it, or should he never have been the Deputy PM in the first place?
Raab is another example of the Right of the parliamentary Conservative Party simply lacking presentable or competent candidates for high office. There has to be some in the cabinet for party management reasons but they invariably blow up or are found wanting. Going back it's why Mrs Thatcher's cabinets contained so many members who were not of her political ilk. But they were at least competent and she was realistic enough to know that she couldn't just have soulmates running important departments.
"He may be a bit of a bully, but he's nowhere near as bad as Gordon Brown, Alex Ferguson or Adolf Hitler".
Ferguson is a genuinely interesting one, the other two are silly. Fergie was undoubtedly a bully at times and undoubtedly successful with longevity.
But, lots of Premier League clubs tried to replicate him, indeed by 2011 there were 7 managers from Glasgow. The likes of Malky Mackay, Billy Davies and Alex McCleish were disasters leading their clubs to long term decline.
It is not impossible to manage successfully with that style in certain contexts but the winners are very rare.
Successful chefs are supposed to be often very toxic managers. I've worked in a few kitchens and found the light-touch approach works best. But I've never worked with anyone like Michelin star winning chef. Has anyone got any experience of this?
Worked as an F&B manager a couple of decades ago, nowhere near Michelin star but restaurants and and function rooms. Plenty of food and equipment sent flying across the room, by the senior chefs. Not every day, not even every week, but every so often the lid would blow on the pressure cooker.
AIUI, at the very top, there are way more Gordon Ramsay types, than Heston Blumental types.
One of the problems is booze. Lots of chefs appear to be alcoholics or damn near it. Long ago, I worked with a very good French chef (he was English but trained in the classical French style) who would sink 6-7 pints of premium lager within an hour or so of service ending each night. So, every day, he'd show up hungover and thus in a foul mood.
He was very mean to the waitresses to the point that they all dreaded being on the pass and had to strictly rota to minimise their exposure to the kitchen. He lasted longer than he should have done because he was an excellent cook and they were few and far between in the northern city I was living in at the time.
Sadly, catering does rather encourage alcoholism – I am led to believe that such experiences aren't that rare.
And drugs. Coke during the service, heroin afterwards. Read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain (a brilliant book anyway)
Then there’s the after service drinking sessions to wind down
What surprises me however is that all these people describe the horrors of working in major or important kitchens - the terrible hours, the burned hands, the shouting and screaming, the nasty bullying - and yet so many also say they adore it. The intensity
Alex Ferguson was an abrasive boss. He would famously give under performing players the “hairdryer” treatment
SAF balanced that abrasiveness with integrity, honesty, consistency and occasionally emoullience. Raab did not. He was just a nasty shit who was out of his depth.
I blame the BBC.
Mostly because watching The Apprentice is as close as most of us get to seeing how top business works, and we don't know enough to recognise that it's a comedy show really.
Actually, the BBC seem to think that The Apprentice is how top business works, too;
More @BBC LR #HungerGames “We were given 60 seconds to save our career and had to treat it like a speed date. We were timed with the stop watch but not shown the clock. It all felt so degrading, I was timed as 2 seconds out. It’s honestly been worst 6 months of my career”
The Local Radio cuts might be the next saucepan of shit to boil over. Yes, it's Local Radio, but its listeners are older people in the provinces.
I hate The Apprentice with a passion. Anyone who thinks that the interview stage is an effective way to evaluate someone is completely out of touch. It is a cringing embarrassment to anyone in business along with "Dragon's Den"
The Apprentice is one of those TV shows that has lasted much longer than it ever should have done, probably because it is relatively cheap to make. First four or five series were genuinely entertaining and humorous (it’s never been about business in truth, more about sending up the David Brent types who go on it). Now it’s repetitive and lame.
Same with all the quiz shows, comedy panel shows, and ‘reality’ shows. Cheapest ways to fill the airwaves. Dramas, documentaries, anything in multiple locations - all really expensive and carefully rationed by the executives.
Except the two of them have never met, have never spoken, and the whole interview was generated using ChatGPT and speech tools to mimic their voices. Sounds scarily realistic.
Alex Chalk will be the new justice secretary. He’s in No 10 with the prime minister now
Who?!
The one thing Chalk has in common with Raab is that he is very vulnerable to being removed from Parliament by the LibDems. Majority in Cheltenham just 981.
Bullying isn't something that comes with the territory of being assertive. The best leaders are forceful and effective without bullying. If a leader is effective AND a bully it doesn't follow that the bullying is essential to the effectiveness. It just means they aren't top drawer. And in practice most bullying people are not effective. They are both bullies and bad at their job. Like Raab.
Being a demanding boss is not the same as being a bully. But the behaviour of a demanding boss is very different. A good, demanding boss who wants high standards needs to motivate their workforce. They take the time to talk through the feedback they are giving, explain how they need things to be different next time, and address any concerns and (crucially) take on board feedback themselves. They act as mentor, not dragon.
The impression I get in this instance is Raab is hiding behind the “demanding boss” line but actually his leadership style was poor and demotivating.
It's also important to respect hierarchy: Raab is quite entitled to shout at senior staff. But he shouldn't be shouting at underlings of underlings.
Well, unless the senior civil servants don't take responsibility for the shoddy work of their underlings. "If there's criticism to be made, Minister, then it is I you should be criticising." I wonder how many times Raab heard that? If ever.
I hope Raab does a double page spread for the Daily Mail about what a bunch of shits the top of the Civil Service contains. Let's open this up.
Except the two of them have never met, have never spoken, and the whole interview was generated using ChatGPT and speech tools to mimic their voices. Sounds scarily realistic.
It's odd how ChatGPT is so good at things like conversations, when it gives false information on basic facts, like saying the Conservatives won Bedford at the last general election when in fact Labour did. (That was yesterday: just checked it again and it's changed its mind).
Alex Chalk was a Remainer. Possibly this means that the British Bill of Rights is dead.
Another barnacle gone, maybe.
He's been in the department for some time, and doesn't at first glance appear incompetent. Probably a distinct improvement.
I think he was Solicitor General under Boris and resigned in the great resignation to oust Boris. I’ve been told he’s a very good egg by people who know him which is a start.
As ever on here, many of those who've never worked in the Civil Service demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding. (Senior) civil servants have two main roles:
1. to carry out the policy instructions of Ministers. 2. to give Ministers frank and impartial advice on any barriers there may be to the implementation of those policy instruction.
On 1., that is what (senior) civil servants do - they'd be sacked if they didn't. On 2., it would appear Raab just didn't want to know about any impediments to carrying out his policy instructions. Which is why he probably achieved so little.
"He may be a bit of a bully, but he's nowhere near as bad as Gordon Brown, Alex Ferguson or Adolf Hitler".
Ferguson is a genuinely interesting one, the other two are silly. Fergie was undoubtedly a bully at times and undoubtedly successful with longevity.
But, lots of Premier League clubs tried to replicate him, indeed by 2011 there were 7 managers from Glasgow. The likes of Malky Mackay, Billy Davies and Alex McCleish were disasters leading their clubs to long term decline.
It is not impossible to manage successfully with that style in certain contexts but the winners are very rare.
Successful chefs are supposed to be often very toxic managers. I've worked in a few kitchens and found the light-touch approach works best. But I've never worked with anyone like Michelin star winning chef. Has anyone got any experience of this?
Worked as an F&B manager a couple of decades ago, nowhere near Michelin star but restaurants and and function rooms. Plenty of food and equipment sent flying across the room, by the senior chefs. Not every day, not even every week, but every so often the lid would blow on the pressure cooker.
AIUI, at the very top, there are way more Gordon Ramsay types, than Heston Blumental types.
One of the problems is booze. Lots of chefs appear to be alcoholics or damn near it. Long ago, I worked with a very good French chef (he was English but trained in the classical French style) who would sink 6-7 pints of premium lager within an hour or so of service ending each night. So, every day, he'd show up hungover and thus in a foul mood.
He was very mean to the waitresses to the point that they all dreaded being on the pass and had to strictly rota to minimise their exposure to the kitchen. He lasted longer than he should have done because he was an excellent cook and they were few and far between in the northern city I was living in at the time.
Sadly, catering does rather encourage alcoholism – I am led to believe that such experiences aren't that rare.
And drugs. Coke during the service, heroin afterwards. Read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain (a brilliant book anyway)
Then there’s the after service drinking sessions to wind down
What surprises me however is that all these people describe the horrors of working in major or important kitchens - the terrible hours, the burned hands, the shouting and screaming, the nasty bullying - and yet so many also say they adore it. The intensity
It is a buzz. I need a good reading book so thanks for the recommendation – I'll order it. Thinking back, the head KP was addicted to speed (!) and the maitre d was shagging the chief waitress - they both got sacked after opening the restaurant to themselves when it was closed one bank holiday, drinking it dry and then presumably using the venue as a temple of love.
Alex Chalk was a Remainer. Possibly this means that the British Bill of Rights is dead.
Another barnacle gone, maybe.
He's been in the department for some time, and doesn't at first glance appear incompetent. Probably a distinct improvement.
I think he was Solicitor General under Boris and resigned in the great resignation to oust Boris. I’ve been told he’s a very good egg by people who know him which is a start.
Before that, his first ministerial post was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice (in 2020), then Prisons and Probation minister. Ex barrister.
Except the two of them have never met, have never spoken, and the whole interview was generated using ChatGPT and speech tools to mimic their voices. Sounds scarily realistic.
Yeah, saw that one the other day. Scary as hell, how realistic it’s getting.
I saw some expert opining that Deepfake Voices are now about a year or two from being completely perfect. The implications are terrifying
It’s difficult to find now, but there was an interview between Rogan and Obama a year or so ago. Again, completely fake and scripted by the creators, rather than AI generated, but they were the easiest two people to find thousands of hours of training data for the voice engine. It was 90% there.
Dominic Raab is both incompetent in his work and a highly unpleasant colleague to deal with, and doesn't have anything much going for him. We know that already. Is he vindicated because the report doesn't have a smoking gun in it, or should he never have been the Deputy PM in the first place?
What a weak sauce argument. Someone should be fired for bullying despite a complete lack of examples of bullying in the report? This is the usual bollocks of moving the goalposts by partisans on here.
FYI, this comment is far more aggressive than any of the allegations so far listed against Raab. I suppose you feel bullied?
He wasn't fired. And whom am being aggressive to? The rest is a matter of very well attested record.
Basically he called some work “woeful” and was sometimes openly critical of civil servants. He never swore, shouted or targeted anyone
It’s ludicrous. Raab might be an arse but he has good reason to be hacked off. This sounds like concocted civil service revenge on a minister they simply didn’t like
Margaret Thatcher was always highly civil to civil servants. Possibly bullied ministers, but never No10 staff. She was a heavyweight. Raab is a lightweight. that is the difference.
Gove has been well-liked by his civil servants wherever he's been a minister. Civility goes a long way.
Politics may be cut throat, but you can still smile as you do it.
Gove comes across to me as a bit weird but probably a nice enough chap. Impossible to be sure from just seeing people on TV, but it seems to be backed up by reports.
Theres also a middle ground between sucking up to civil servants and seeing them as an enemy.
Gove's manner is brisk and businesslike too in my limited experience, but that includes not wasting time insulting people. A typical Gove critical contribution is "I don't fully understand your point - what exactly would you like us to do?" Whereas Raab, it appears, would put it more like "You're not making any sense, why don't you stop waffling?" Gove addresses the issue, Raab goes ad hominem very quickly.
To be fair, Raab is certainly a workaholic, and might do a one-man report very well. He's just not a good manager.
@PickardJE 11m - Oliver Dowden has just been confirmed as new deputy prime minister
- Alex Chalk is new justice secretary
- Chloe Smith to be Secretary of State for science, innovation and tech while Michelle Donelan is on maternity leave
Chloe Smith is a blast from the past.
From Wikipedia: ...On 14 October 2011, she was appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury in a ministerial reshuffle, becoming the youngest minister serving in government at that point. According to The Guardian newspaper Smith was appointed to the role because David Cameron wrongly understood her to be a trained accountant..
Similar vibes today, as an Eng Lit graduate taking over science, innovation and tech...
Former client in Romania won't pay invoices (comfortably 5 figures) until tax residency certificate is sent. After 2 months of faff from HMRC - including them sending them to the wrong address - I finally sent the certificate to Romania via Royal Mail tracked and signed last week.
3-5 business days.
Website has the letter scanned out of Aberdeen bound for Heathrow a week ago, And then? Nothing! Customer service lady apologetic, said after a recent cyber attack their scanning system is not working. So they are selling tracking, but can't actually track!
Said they don't get scan data from Romania anyway (despite selling it) so has no idea if it is in Romania or Heathrow but "should be". It isn't counted as lost for another month so they don't care...
I obtained 2 copies of my tax residency certificate. At this rate I will be on Ryanair to Bucharest with that copy...
DHL / FEDEX or equivalent should give you properly tracked delivery for high value documents.
DHL is an option.
It’s almost worth getting on the plane yourself with it, first thing Monday morning. Done that before, for things that really had to be somewhere on time.
Yeah - if you can spend the time to do it then if it's that critical that's the only way to be sure. Will cost you £200+ at this notice for Monday, though.
But any of the major courier firms - FedEx, UPS or DHL - are way better than entrusting it to Royal Mail/Poșta Română.
Well I’ve just read it. All of it. What a load of shite about nothing. Raab has every reason to be aggrieved
I wouldn't worry. Two years today he'll be leader of the opposition.
You think Raab can hold Esher and Walton?
Personally I think there's a good chance he will be one of the big "were you up for" moments in Election 24?
Nothing will top being up for ‘Palmer’
To clarify I assume @Taz means last night's revelation rather than the Good Doctor losing his Nottingham seat to Anna Soubry back in 2010?
You’re quite right !!
An important clarification as I was slightly concerned @NickPalmer would have taken offence!
What was last night's revelation?
Oh my, you really missed out. I suggest you read last night's BLT discourse, as to summarise is, in this case, to diminish.
The whole thread is already a PB legend. Those of us that were there were privileged indeed
I missed that. Just been to look it up. Worth it.
Every 20th April, Nick's account should be the PB Header.
Yes, 20th April shall henceforth be known as Nick Palmer Swiss Threesome Day. We can have street parties with suggestive Toblerones, give each other kink-themed cuckoo clocks, etc
Well I’ve just read it. All of it. What a load of shite about nothing. Raab has every reason to be aggrieved
I wouldn't worry. Two years today he'll be leader of the opposition.
You think Raab can hold Esher and Walton?
Personally I think there's a good chance he will be one of the big "were you up for" moments in Election 24?
Nothing will top being up for ‘Palmer’
To clarify I assume @Taz means last night's revelation rather than the Good Doctor losing his Nottingham seat to Anna Soubry back in 2010?
You’re quite right !!
An important clarification as I was slightly concerned @NickPalmer would have taken offence!
What was last night's revelation?
Oh my, you really missed out. I suggest you read last night's BLT discourse, as to summarise is, in this case, to diminish.
The whole thread is already a PB legend. Those of us that were there were privileged indeed
I missed that. Just been to look it up. Worth it.
Every 20th April, Nick's account should be the PB Header.
Yes, 20th April shall henceforth be known as Nick Palmer Swiss Threesome Day. We can have street parties with suggestive Toblerones, give each other kink-themed cuckoo clocks, etc
Well, and sandwiches of course. Some of us might get the Matterhorn.
Apparently so. Has he ever done or said anything even remotely memorable or notable? It’s incredible how far you can rise in politics these days without leaving a hint of a mark.
"He may be a bit of a bully, but he's nowhere near as bad as Gordon Brown, Alex Ferguson or Adolf Hitler".
Ferguson is a genuinely interesting one, the other two are silly. Fergie was undoubtedly a bully at times and undoubtedly successful with longevity.
But, lots of Premier League clubs tried to replicate him, indeed by 2011 there were 7 managers from Glasgow. The likes of Malky Mackay, Billy Davies and Alex McCleish were disasters leading their clubs to long term decline.
It is not impossible to manage successfully with that style in certain contexts but the winners are very rare.
Successful chefs are supposed to be often very toxic managers. I've worked in a few kitchens and found the light-touch approach works best. But I've never worked with anyone like Michelin star winning chef. Has anyone got any experience of this?
Worked as an F&B manager a couple of decades ago, nowhere near Michelin star but restaurants and and function rooms. Plenty of food and equipment sent flying across the room, by the senior chefs. Not every day, not even every week, but every so often the lid would blow on the pressure cooker.
AIUI, at the very top, there are way more Gordon Ramsay types, than Heston Blumental types.
One of the problems is booze. Lots of chefs appear to be alcoholics or damn near it. Long ago, I worked with a very good French chef (he was English but trained in the classical French style) who would sink 6-7 pints of premium lager within an hour or so of service ending each night. So, every day, he'd show up hungover and thus in a foul mood.
He was very mean to the waitresses to the point that they all dreaded being on the pass and had to strictly rota to minimise their exposure to the kitchen. He lasted longer than he should have done because he was an excellent cook and they were few and far between in the northern city I was living in at the time.
Sadly, catering does rather encourage alcoholism – I am led to believe that such experiences aren't that rare.
And drugs. Coke during the service, heroin afterwards. Read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain (a brilliant book anyway)
Then there’s the after service drinking sessions to wind down
What surprises me however is that all these people describe the horrors of working in major or important kitchens - the terrible hours, the burned hands, the shouting and screaming, the nasty bullying - and yet so many also say they adore it. The intensity
It is a buzz. I need a good reading book so thanks for the recommendation – I'll order it. Thinking back, the head KP was addicted to speed (!) and the maitre d was shagging the chief waitress - they both got sacked after opening the restaurant to themselves when it was closed one bank holiday, drinking it dry and then presumably using the venue as a temple of love.
Crazy days.
It’s a superb read - you’ll see why it made him famous. Full of juicy gossip and excellent insights. He was a fine writer, albeit a depressive drug taking boozer. A tragic loss at 62
And yes kitchens and hotels are, er, hotbeds of nookie. The Maldives are amongst the worst, because the staff are trapped on that one hotel island even on days off. They only get to properly leave once or twice a year
There is nothing for them to do but snorkelling, and shagging. So that’s what they do. Polyamory rules - it is accepted that the chef will have three girls on the go, but the girls will also be bedding the concierge and the scuba guys and so on. And they are absolutely happy to gossip about it, as that also alleviates the boredom
Basically the Maldives are paradise to visit but purgatory to work in, albeit purgatory with lots of sex
Apparently so. Has he ever done or said anything even remotely memorable or notable? It’s incredible how far you can rise in politics these days without leaving a hint of a mark.
He was in charge of DCMS during the pandemic, working through a lot of support packages for amateur and professional sports, as well as condemning those trying to throw statues in rivers.
The qualifications in the report are as interesting as the findings.
...In the course of his ministerial work, the DPM often encounters what he genuinely sees as frustrations in respect of the quality of work done, its speed of production and the extent to which it implements his policy decisions. it has not been necessary to make any finding as to whether any of those frustrations was well-founded in any particular case...
...The DPM often operates on the basis that once he has made a policy decision, it should not be revisited subsequently by civil servants. He refers to this, when it occurs, as ‘relitigating his steers’. Views can, however, reasonably differ as to whether an earlier policy decision (or ‘steer’) was truly final, particularly in light of new or additional circumstances which may arise. Civil servants have a duty to give informed and impartial advice and Ministers have an obligation (under paragraph 5.2 of the Ministerial Code) to consider it...
..The DPM tends to take a clear view of an issue, whatever it may comprise. This applies across the range of matters with which he deals, from policy decisions to the presentational format of papers. In the context of the investigation, this approach manifested itself in what I considered to be a somewhat absolutist approach in his response to certain points, such as whether a particular conversation had occurred, either at all or in a certain way. His responses were frequently put in ‘black or white’ terms, with no room for nuance even where nuance might reasonably be expected. I did not find this approach persuasive. However, I have in every instance of factual dispute considered what appeared to me to be the inherent probabilities, the evidence as a whole and the overall context before reaching any conclusion...
The Civil Service clearly could not cope with a Minister who made decisions and then expected them to be implemented.
Raab might be an arse - but he has been brought down by everything that needs to be rooted out and burnt in the Civil Service.
Not how I read that bit of the report.
To take a hypothetical example, all of that could have been written about a minister who insisted that all the grass in Britain be dyed orange. And got frustrated when civil servants wanted to revisit the decision.
That he's achieved absolutely nothing in every department he has been in suggests which one of us is closer to the truth.
But no one is suggesting he wanted something so preposterous....from my experience of the civil service in tfl labelling their work woeful or utterly useless would actually be overestimating its worth as it is often counterproductive to the task in hand.
To give an example, I was writing a road routing engine backend for them, they supplied a million odd road links. Found it impossible to turn the route to english directions because the motorway slip roads had not been consistently marked in the data. Pointed it out to them they went away for a couple of weeks and sent new data......this time all the slip roads were consistently marked at least by removing the flag designating them as slip roads which was slightly less useful than a soap herring.
Apparently so. Has he ever done or said anything even remotely memorable or notable? It’s incredible how far you can rise in politics these days without leaving a hint of a mark.
Question: "How many votes did the Liberal Democrats receive in the Esher and Walton constituency at the 2019 UK general election?"
Answer: "In the 2019 UK general election, the Liberal Democrats' candidate in the Esher and Walton constituency, Monica Harding, received 13,298 votes, which was 24.8% of the total votes cast in the constituency. However, the constituency was won by the Conservative Party's candidate, Dominic Raab, who received 31,132 votes (57.9% of the total votes cast), giving him a majority of 17,834 votes over the Liberal Democrat candidate."
"He may be a bit of a bully, but he's nowhere near as bad as Gordon Brown, Alex Ferguson or Adolf Hitler".
Ferguson is a genuinely interesting one, the other two are silly. Fergie was undoubtedly a bully at times and undoubtedly successful with longevity.
But, lots of Premier League clubs tried to replicate him, indeed by 2011 there were 7 managers from Glasgow. The likes of Malky Mackay, Billy Davies and Alex McCleish were disasters leading their clubs to long term decline.
It is not impossible to manage successfully with that style in certain contexts but the winners are very rare.
Successful chefs are supposed to be often very toxic managers. I've worked in a few kitchens and found the light-touch approach works best. But I've never worked with anyone like Michelin star winning chef. Has anyone got any experience of this?
Worked as an F&B manager a couple of decades ago, nowhere near Michelin star but restaurants and and function rooms. Plenty of food and equipment sent flying across the room, by the senior chefs. Not every day, not even every week, but every so often the lid would blow on the pressure cooker.
AIUI, at the very top, there are way more Gordon Ramsay types, than Heston Blumental types.
One of the problems is booze. Lots of chefs appear to be alcoholics or damn near it. Long ago, I worked with a very good French chef (he was English but trained in the classical French style) who would sink 6-7 pints of premium lager within an hour or so of service ending each night. So, every day, he'd show up hungover and thus in a foul mood.
He was very mean to the waitresses to the point that they all dreaded being on the pass and had to strictly rota to minimise their exposure to the kitchen. He lasted longer than he should have done because he was an excellent cook and they were few and far between in the northern city I was living in at the time.
Sadly, catering does rather encourage alcoholism – I am led to believe that such experiences aren't that rare.
And drugs. Coke during the service, heroin afterwards. Read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain (a brilliant book anyway)
Then there’s the after service drinking sessions to wind down
What surprises me however is that all these people describe the horrors of working in major or important kitchens - the terrible hours, the burned hands, the shouting and screaming, the nasty bullying - and yet so many also say they adore it. The intensity
It is a buzz. I need a good reading book so thanks for the recommendation – I'll order it. Thinking back, the head KP was addicted to speed (!) and the maitre d was shagging the chief waitress - they both got sacked after opening the restaurant to themselves when it was closed one bank holiday, drinking it dry and then presumably using the venue as a temple of love.
Crazy days.
It’s a superb read - you’ll see why it made him famous. Full of juicy gossip and excellent insights. He was a fine writer, albeit a depressive drug taking boozer. A tragic loss at 62
And yes kitchens and hotels are, er, hotbeds of nookie. The Maldives are amongst the worst, because the staff are trapped on that one hotel island even on days off. They only get to properly leave once or twice a year
There is nothing for them to do but snorkelling, and shagging. So that’s what they do. Polyamory rules - it is accepted that the chef will have three girls on the go, but the girls will also be bedding the concierge and the scuba guys and so on. And they are absolutely happy to gossip about it, as that also alleviates the boredom
Basically the Maldives are paradise to visit but purgatory to work in, albeit purgatory with lots of sex
Was there last year, for a belated honeymoon. I did think that it must be total cabin fever for the staff, especially in the more remote islands where you have to hope for a space on the seaplane on your day off.
Well I’ve just read it. All of it. What a load of shite about nothing. Raab has every reason to be aggrieved
I wouldn't worry. Two years today he'll be leader of the opposition.
You think Raab can hold Esher and Walton?
Personally I think there's a good chance he will be one of the big "were you up for" moments in Election 24?
Nothing will top being up for ‘Palmer’
To clarify I assume @Taz means last night's revelation rather than the Good Doctor losing his Nottingham seat to Anna Soubry back in 2010?
You’re quite right !!
An important clarification as I was slightly concerned @NickPalmer would have taken offence!
What was last night's revelation?
Oh my, you really missed out. I suggest you read last night's BLT discourse, as to summarise is, in this case, to diminish.
The whole thread is already a PB legend. Those of us that were there were privileged indeed
I missed that. Just been to look it up. Worth it.
Every 20th April, Nick's account should be the PB Header.
Yes, 20th April shall henceforth be known as Nick Palmer Swiss Threesome Day. We can have street parties with suggestive Toblerones, give each other kink-themed cuckoo clocks, etc
And we will sing a song to the tune of “Oh Tannenbaum”
Nick palmer day, nick palmer day, Such kinky acts we celebrate, Nick Palmer day, Nick Palmer day, The secret master of three-way.
His Swiss adventures, one of which Were Nick Palmer in a sandwich
Nick Palmer Day Nick Palmer day We raise a glass and shout wha-hey.
I have to say it makes me think of @Leon and his observation that the more you see of Rishi the more likeable he seems while the opposite is true of Starmer.
In fact, Sir Keir is in danger of seeming not just dull, but quite utterly charmless. And contrasting very much with his opponent in this respect.
Something Labour needs to watch out for. A weakness which may only become apparent during an election campaign when voters have to consider do they really want this man on my screen(s) morning, noon and night for the next 5 years.
Still, don't think it will stop him winning through.
I have to say it makes me think of @Leon and his observation that the more you see of Rishi the more likeable he seems while the opposite is true of Starmer.
In fact, Sir Keir is in danger of seeming not just dull, but quite utterly charmless. And contrasting very much with his opponent in this respect.
Something Labour needs to watch out for. A weakness which may only become apparent during an election campaign when voters have to consider do they really want this man on my screen(s) morning, noon and night for the next 5 years.
Still, don't think it will stop him winning through.
Comments
BREAKING:
Alex Chalk will be the new justice secretary. He’s in No 10 with the prime minister now
6m
Julian Knight announces he's standing aside as DCMS select committee chair saying he has "no choice given my decision to remain an independent"
Comes after we reported MPs were unhappy with his continued presence as chair...
Was he effective in office? No - caught as rabbit in the headlights repeatedly. Caught on a beach doing nothing as Kabul fell. Caught terrorising the MoJ claiming to be dynamic and demanding but achieving nothing at all.
It doen't matter if the PB right considers this to be bullying - the civil service does. The Prime Minister does. Raab is a bully and has now gone. If there are any snowflakes on this subject it isn't the civil servants, its @leon et al flapping about it.
For all his hardman mantras, Raab forgot rule one: don’t be a massive arse
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/21/dominic-raab-hardman-rishi-sunak-scandal
I'd forgotten this story.
...During a discussion of Raab’s conduct, Ministry of Justice officials were told by Foreign Office counterparts that “people had died” in the Afghanistan evacuation because of Dom’s refusal to review documents in formats he didn’t like...
14m
What we used to call a “Westminster wag” has just told me “Sunak, like his wife, has now adopted non-Dom status”
The top chefs are also often outrageous womanisers
I’m pretty sure the civil service were not totally on board with Thatcherism, for example.
*usually.
Those that were there.
And those that weren't.
What some of us are questioning is whether this report proves any real bullying, and also whether this is a stitch up of Raab by his minions. There is a hint of that
More importantly I’ve just noticed yet another new skyscraper in the Bangkok skyline. The energy in Asia is amazing
I hope Raab does a double page spread for the Daily Mail about what a bunch of shits the top of the Civil Service contains. Let's open this up.
He was very mean to the waitresses to the point that they all dreaded being on the pass and had to strictly rota to minimise their exposure to the kitchen. He lasted longer than he should have done because he was an excellent cook and they were few and far between in the northern city I was living in at the time.
Sadly, catering does rather encourage alcoholism – I am led to believe that such experiences aren't that rare.
Possibly this means that the British Bill of Rights is dead.
Another barnacle gone, maybe.
Then there’s the after service drinking sessions to wind down
What surprises me however is that all these people describe the horrors of working in major or important kitchens - the terrible hours, the burned hands, the shouting and screaming, the nasty bullying - and yet so many also say they adore it. The intensity
https://twitter.com/sarahbowlesuk/status/1649286373025669120?s=46
1. to carry out the policy instructions of Ministers.
2. to give Ministers frank and impartial advice on any barriers there may be to the implementation of those policy instruction.
On 1., that is what (senior) civil servants do - they'd be sacked if they didn't. On 2., it would appear Raab just didn't want to know about any impediments to carrying out his policy instructions. Which is why he probably achieved so little.
Crazy days.
So at least has some sort of clue, too.
To be fair, Raab is certainly a workaholic, and might do a one-man report very well. He's just not a good manager.
11m
- Oliver Dowden has just been confirmed as new deputy prime minister
- Alex Chalk is new justice secretary
- Chloe Smith to be Secretary of State for science, innovation and tech while Michelle Donelan is on maternity leave
...On 14 October 2011, she was appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury in a ministerial reshuffle, becoming the youngest minister serving in government at that point. According to The Guardian newspaper Smith was appointed to the role because David Cameron wrongly understood her to be a trained accountant..
Similar vibes today, as an Eng Lit graduate taking over science, innovation and tech...
The overnight minimum will be 28C. How the F do you manage that without Aircon?
I am sitting in an al fresco bar and the staff have turned TWO fans on me (not fans of my flint work, the cooling kind)
And yet, what a buzz. This city. I don’t think there is a more vibrant city, at night, than Bangkok, anywhere on earth
But any of the major courier firms - FedEx, UPS or DHL - are way better than entrusting it to Royal Mail/Poșta Română.
We're lucky to have him in such an exalted position.
I am strong believer in deploying a sense of humour than yelling at people when things do not turn out as expected.
Also don't micromanage, just set targets/deadlines, and tell them to tell me if they are unlikely to meet those targets.
Elevation to DPM signifies that Sunak doesn’t see him as a leadership rival unlike Penny Dreadful or the Bespectacled BIPOC She Corbyn.
And yes kitchens and hotels are, er, hotbeds of nookie. The Maldives are amongst the worst, because the staff are trapped on that one hotel island even on days off. They only get to properly leave once or twice a year
There is nothing for them to do but snorkelling, and shagging. So that’s what they do. Polyamory rules - it is accepted that the chef will have three girls on the go, but the girls will also be bedding the concierge and the scuba guys and so on. And they are absolutely happy to gossip about it, as that also alleviates the boredom
Basically the Maldives are paradise to visit but purgatory to work in, albeit purgatory with lots of sex
He, like the new Deputy PM Oliver Dowden, both backed Rishi for the leadership
https://novotelbangkoksukhumvit4.com/
I’m just thinking about the poor people out there in cheap apartments with no aircon. Ouch
To give an example, I was writing a road routing engine backend for them, they supplied a million odd road links. Found it impossible to turn the route to english directions because the motorway slip roads had not been consistently marked in the data. Pointed it out to them they went away for a couple of weeks and sent new data......this time all the slip roads were consistently marked at least by removing the flag designating them as slip roads which was slightly less useful than a soap herring.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jun/24/oliver-dowden-resigns-as-conservative-party-chair-in-wake-of-byelection-losses
Question: "How many votes did the Liberal Democrats receive in the Esher and Walton constituency at the 2019 UK general election?"
Answer: "In the 2019 UK general election, the Liberal Democrats' candidate in the Esher and Walton constituency, Monica Harding, received 13,298 votes, which was 24.8% of the total votes cast in the constituency. However, the constituency was won by the Conservative Party's candidate, Dominic Raab, who received 31,132 votes (57.9% of the total votes cast), giving him a majority of 17,834 votes over the Liberal Democrat candidate."
Nick palmer day, nick palmer day,
Such kinky acts we celebrate,
Nick Palmer day, Nick Palmer day,
The secret master of three-way.
His Swiss adventures, one of which
Were Nick Palmer in a sandwich
Nick Palmer Day Nick Palmer day
We raise a glass and shout wha-hey.
I have to say it makes me think of @Leon and his observation that the more you see of Rishi the more likeable he seems while the opposite is true of Starmer.
In fact, Sir Keir is in danger of seeming not just dull, but quite utterly charmless. And contrasting very much with his opponent in this respect.
Something Labour needs to watch out for. A weakness which may only become apparent during an election campaign when voters have to consider do they really want this man on my screen(s) morning, noon and night for the next 5 years.
Still, don't think it will stop him winning through.