Dominic Raab

Wwm2 I am wondering what happened to the translators working in Afghanistan for the British government? Sometimes I question the battles which reach the public when loss of life is always more important.

Some of them have tried to reach the UK in small boats. I'm sure you remember that Raab was criticised in 2021 for not intervening on their behalf.

Growstuff yes that’s exactly what I remember! Seems more important to investigate or at least equally important ?

ronib

Growstuff yes that’s exactly what I remember! Seems more important to investigate or at least equally important ?

I don't see it as either/or.

Growstuff of course.

I finished reading Tolley's report last night and noted that Tolley was prepared to take Raab's assessment of himself as hardworking, efficiency driven and decisive at face value. Also that he took pains to keep himself well informed on the matters he was dealing with.

I then continued reading my recently bought copy of 'How Westminster Works... And Why it Doesn't' by political journalist and commentator, Ian Dunt (a book I would highly recommend to everyone to read). I would emphasise that this is a far reaching and well researched survey of all aspects of government and is non partisan.
I had just finished his section on the Civil Service. The next section was in the nature of an 'interlude' to demonstrate the interaction between civil service and ministers and the chaos which exists in Westminster. It was a truly stomach churning account of the last minute evacuation from Kabul last summer as the Taliban swept in to take control during the evacuation of UK forces and, supposedly, Afghans who had worked with them who would be in danger from the Taliban.
It is a story of UK government incompetence from beginning to end, from failure to prepare for a long expected evacuation of troops. to failure to evacuate thousands of the Afghans who had helped the British and leaving them to their possible destruction by the Taliban.
Both Trump and Biden had stated their intention to with draw US troops long before the evacuation tool place. The UK government had made no plans for the withdrawal either of troops or Afghans; intelligence was poor, 6 days before the Taliban swept through the country the UK PM was telling Parliament that there was no chance of it happening in the near future.

It wasn't decided until 5 days before the evacuation programme was to end what categories of Afghan civilians would be eligible for evacuation. Those wishing to evacuate were told to email a 'Special Cases' team. Thousands did so but only one person was monitoring the inbox and only during the day. The only language in use was English. It's likely that thousands of these emails were never read.

It just goes on and on, a catalogue of poor planning and appalling leadership. And the person who abrogated to himself the decisions on who should be allowed to evacuate was the Foreign Secretary, who just happened to be on holiday at the time... And for some inexplicable reason, though time was running short, and with thousands at the airport desperate to get away, these ministerial decisions took hours to come through... This isn't the half of it really, you'd have to read the chapter..

And the Foreign Secretary on the beach taking hours over life and death decisions, the one who'd failed to prepare his department for an exercise which was known to be necessary months before it happened?

It was, of course, hard working, efficient, decisive Dominic Raab.

Interesting thread too by the FT's Peter Foster about the NI agreement:

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1134036168239177728.html

It's ironic that Raab has resigned over bullying, but was allowed to keep his job when he was manipulative and incompetent.

The ultimate irony is that he's now complaining about being bullied by "woke" civil servants with a low threshold for bullying.

Ian Dunt was on my list I shall order it forthwith.

It’s always someone else’s fault…

It’s odd how things don’t happen during Raab’s time in office, thanks to recalcitrant/obstructive/inefficient/partisan civil servants, but do happen under the next Minister, from the same party, with the same policy objectives, working with the same civil servants.

Whitewavemark2

Ian Dunt was on my list I shall order it forthwith.

It's really interesting, as well as horrifying. It shows just how dystopian government is; all parts of it, MPs, PMs, Ministers, Civil Servants and the political press.
(and the only swear words in it are those repeated from verbatim interviews..)

Everyone should read it.

(I got mine slightly cheaper than the list price from the Guardian online bookshop)

Ordered. I did wonder about the swear words😄😄. I have his Brexit book published before the vote I think. And everything has come to pass.

Siope

It’s always someone else’s fault…

It’s odd how things don’t happen during Raab’s time in office, thanks to recalcitrant/obstructive/inefficient/partisan civil servants, but do happen under the next Minister, from the same party, with the same policy objectives, working with the same civil servants.

David Allen Green illustrates that point in his Law & Policy blog. In the short period of Truss's administration, when Raab was no longer Justice Secretary, the barristers' strike was sorted...

davidallengreen.com/2023/04/the-significance-of-the-resignation-of-dominic-raab/

I wish Barclay would resign.🤬

I wish the whole government would go.

Maizie, interesting that DAG and the other legal commentators he references describe Raab as indecisive, and thus unable to progress anything important. This is the exact opposite of how Raab portrays himself, with all his rapid decisions constantly being thwarted by civil servants, the EU, the Irish government etc etc ad infinitum.

If I may quote Ian Dunt in the i newspaper; ‘he (Raab) was evidently just too much of a genius and the officials couldn’t handle it. It’s a classic political non-apology: saying sorry not for the offence, but for people’s reaction’.

hallgreenmiss

If I may quote Ian Dunt in the i newspaper; ‘he (Raab) was evidently just too much of a genius and the officials couldn’t handle it. It’s a classic political non-apology: saying sorry not for the offence, but for people’s reaction’.

😆

I do love Ian Dunt.

Beg, borrow or steal a copy of his Westminster book. It's a real eye opener. (and very scary...)

Raab is just one in a long line of ministers bullied out, for that is what it is, soon everyone will be going to work in protective vests, name displayed on their fronts and a body camera. It is basically impossible to govern when sections of the population want to bring democracy down, about supposed hurt feelings. If it wasn’t so daft and serious it would be laughable.
Doubt much will be done about Dr Martin Whyte the doctors strike leader, joking about Jews being gassed and the Queens corpse. It is

Yep, that’s the trouble with Ministers these days: no resilience.

I think that Allsorts needs to read Ian Dunt's book, too. It might destroy a few illusions. And improve their understanding of 'democracy'.

MaizieD you are so right. I’ve quoted a bit from Ian Dunt’s article in today’s i newspaper. He’s spot on.

MaizieD

I think that Allsorts needs to read Ian Dunt's book, too. It might destroy a few illusions. And improve their understanding of 'democracy'.

Too right. Raab was the Brexit secretary who failed to understand the importance of the English Channel for uk trade. At each level of incompetence he’s been promoted!

Who would have thought we're governed by such a bunch of snowflakes?

Some MPs most certainly do get bullied, but I don't count Raab as one of them.

Another good book is Why We Get The Wrong Politicians, by Isabel Hardman

This was my review for local mag.:

Hardman is a Westminster lobby journalist and assistant editor of The Spectator, so has been able to observe the workings of the House of Commons at close quarters. She analyses the motivations of those who stand for Parliament, followed by their rapid disenchantment as they start to work out that they are virtually powerless.

She is in the main sympathetic to MPs, recognising the home-wrecking nature of their chosen career path, and the huge sacrifices that have to be made in so many areas: health, family life, finances, moral standards, idealism. It is a sorry tale of sheer impotence in the face of an arcane system in Westminster.

She acknowledges the presence of corrupt self-serving individuals - but did they start out that way, or did the system at Westminster push them in that direction as being the only rational course of action to save their career?

She observes the novice MPs who arrive bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, fresh from their heady triumph, and full of political fervour to improve the nation, but find themselves sucked into jostling for a remote chance of making a difference; and faced with massive moral compromises. Such painful disillusionment presents a dilemma: give it all up and face the fact that all that hard work and massive expenditure were in vain, and try and pick up the pieces of your life without too much loss of face; or go with the flow and try to carve a niche for yourself by fair means or foul?

She asks: “Why would anyone with a vaguely decent perspective on life and a few hobbies want to go anywhere near Parliament?” And her answers are not unkind – she recognises the often laudable motives of many candidates, and laments the fate of so many as they cave in to the prevailing moral mire that confronts them at Westminster.

The pathway to Parliament demands money in quantities that many candidates underestimate, which is why “We end up with a political class that cannot instinctively see the impact of bad policies on the most vulnerable.” Not bad people then, she seems to say, just ignorant of real life.

She is full of praise for the dedication of many MPs to their constituency casework. How sickeningly ironic it is that so much of their time is spent sorting out the impact of their own flawed legislation on ordinary people.

This is a good book, with her assertions well researched and backed-up; and a real compassion for those decent people who find themselves locked into a system that leaves many frustrated and miserable, and easy prey for the booze and the marriage-destroying charms of fresh newly-graduated young assistants. It is also a very sad book – sad for the individuals involved and sad for all of us whose lives are dictated by legislation that is passed under such devious processes.

“What is far worse than the few fools and failures that every parliament seems to contain is the fact that the House of Commons is – both structurally and culturally – not working, and that will remain the case no matter how many snap elections we have over the next few years.”

And the biggest bully of the lot, Bercow is keeping a very low profile.