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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Rewards for Failure
John Bercow, Tom Watson and Karie Murphy should be feeling quite aggrieved, having apparently been blackballed from receiving peerages because of ongoing investigations into allegations about past behaviour. What is this novel concept of holding people accountable for their actions? It hasn’t been like this for ages – ever since lying, lustful Profumo went into the library with the metaphorical whisky and revolver. Soo unfair!
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If you want to see why this doesn't happen much look at what happened when Ed Balls fired Sharon Shoesmith
Having worked in both, I don't agree with the comment that the private sector is as bad as the public sector though. Of course there are plenty of over-promoted failures in both, but the discipline of bankruptcy in the private sector means things can never go beyond a certain level. And the obvious solution, or at least mitigation, in the private sector (promoting competition so that big companies don't have the ample profits to pay useless nonentities with) doesn't exist in the public sector.
I suppose the obvious mitigation in the public sector is to "starve the best" as American conservatives say. Cut government funding so that it can't afford quangocrats earning outrageous salaries etc. The difficulty is obvious - rather than cut their own perks, public sector management would cut front line services. I'm sure any solution would be greatly appreciated.
But. Down 10.5% on previous year.
How long can this bubble last?
I think this mystery is partially resolved by a few points. Firstly inequality of negotiating power. Those at the very top of large organisations, public and private have access to a quality of advice and help in areas of law (especially), PR, accountancy and every other department at which the ordinary punter would be amazed and staggered.
Secondly the group at the very top of things is small and have a protective instinct towards each other.
Thirdly, the way to protect yourself is by delay, confusion, complexification (really important), review, making something boring and the dispersal of responsibility so that blame is diluted and shared and confused. Expertise at the top about these arts is highly prized.
Fourthly, and regrettably, the pool of people with those absolutely top abilities is not large. Real abilities including intellect, self preservation, shamelessness, capacity to be at the top when the balloon goes off and get away with it, talking the talk and various other things are rare and command a high price.
Private Eye has been running stuff about all this nearly all my life. In these respects the world is not all that different to the day it started.
None of this explains Chris Grayling.
March US retail sales - minus 8.7%
That image of Wile E. Coyote running in mid air springs to mind.
It will please the rabid right-wingers / extreme right-wingers but the Tories showing us what they really are - the re-toxification of the Tory party is well underway and has been for quite a while now...
Last seven days - 70
Last Tuesday - 129
Big fall....
Worst PM in living memory!
Many are lamenting the earnings of Rashford in the earlier thread. At least he is accountable for his salary on the pitch and if he doesnt deliver it will drop massively after a couple of years. The same doesnt apply and never has to the elite establishment (in the pre Brexit meaning of the words), their gravy train never runs dry.
https://twitter.com/DrSpock_MGBGA/status/1272138698721763329?s=20
Having an ambassador responsible for and understanding the development aid being given to the country he or she is ambassador for is entirely logical.
Integrating foreign policy and development has been done already across the OECD.
https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1272542347352571910
Anything naughty or one public pooping of his pants too far?
https://twitter.com/tompeck/status/1272880374448885766
But if two people come into contact with each other and both have Apps that are ‘asleep’ - which is very likely if they are from single person households - then neither App will wake up and register the contact.
This seems to be why the national rollout of the App is being perpetually postponed,
It hasn’t been said, but my guess is that if the App is revised to remain ‘awake’ all of the time, there will be a lot of islanders walking around with flat phone batteries.
She threatened to do it last week.
https://twitter.com/UKLabour/status/1272866991683051520?s=20
The South West now has multiple days with zero - 9th, 10th, 14th
The problem is that you can't revise the App to remain awake all the time - both iOS and android phones are designed to ensure bluetooth is switched off after a while to avoid accidental privacy leaks.
The entire point of the new API that google and apple wrote was to create a means for the phones to keep bluetooth active all the time.
Grayling's longevity is not based on his competence, it's based on political considerations.
Cressida Dick certainly presided over a terrible operation, (although I think she was personally exonerated in the investigation) but she has surely done lots of other things well to get promoted. Should they not count for anything?
If our criteria for top jobs is 'never having made a mistake/overseen a disaster', then we will end up with inexperienced leaders.
I personally would distinguish between incompetence (people can learn from experience) and dishonesty (should be a bar).
Have a look at understand what is actually happening. You are so uncompassionate and make a mockery of the Conservative Party. The PM has made it clear this is not about cutting the aid budget which will be maintained.
I think things can go pretty far in the private sector!
The stock market is being propped up by lack of any decent alternative for people with spare capital to put their money, with interest rates at rock bottom. It’s a dangerous state of affairs that won’t take much to turn.
Just like the Irish border...
The squeeze in the budget this year is because GDP has fallen as we're in recession. Pick up an economics textbook, listen to the PM, pay attention and then you might understand what's being talked about.
How many lives did Warmonger Blair cost.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8426075/Labours-Lisa-Nandy-demands-Foreign-Office-remove-five-giant-racist-British-Empire-murals.html
There is massive QE in the US again, that money has to go somewhere and it is designed to prop up and inflate asset prices again. If not buying shares what? Govt debt? Business debt? Property? None seem any more appealing than shares.
Covid has hit businesses and governments hard but not the typical household*. More households will have excess savings and spending power rather than less as their incomes have been protected but discretionary spending for 3 months was close to nil.
A large proportion of the DOW stocks are not negatively impacted by Covid at all - many tech companies benefit from the shift to working from home for example.
After falls last week I was looking to buy this week if it dropped any lower, but given todays news and massive rises Ill hold off. Its not miles off the right price though.
* Not diminishing the severe and tragic impact of covid on a minority of households, but the majority have had the same income as before and lower costs.
https://onthewight.com/ships-parking-off-isle-of-wight-bembridge-to-ventnor-bring-exhaust-fumes-and-deep-vibrations-say-residents/
The UK is in recession.
Recession means GDP is going down.
Therefore what happens to the Aid budget?
Its basic mathematics.
That tweet hits the nail on the head!
The budget is 0.7% Of GDP.
This isn't austerity, this is a recession. Do you understand the difference. What is 0.7% of GDP if GDP goes down?
As most PB’ers spotted, the position on school meals was obviously destined to be abandoned.
We have a newly introduced and pointless quarantine policy, which will soon be waived for all EU countries, exempting the vast majority of returning and incoming travellers.
We have the government clinging to a two metre rule when all the signs are that, outdoors at least, one metre would be just as safe - and so soon we will see yet another u-turn.
The government offensive against the virus is starting to make the Italian invasion of Albania look like a well executed plan.