[Closed] No,no,no. WTAF. Chris Grayling lands £100k job advising a ports operator!

Sounds like excellent VFM. Whatever he says, do the opposite.

Political connections, Boris is a big fan of his.

Problem is that the electorate seems to be so apathetic and uninformed that they don’t GAF and politicians know they can do this with impunity.

ETA: it’s also a symptom of the outraging thinking and cronyism at the top of these organisations, you see it regularly and extends across all sectors including charity.

For 100k they could employ a full time nurse and implement a full influenza vaccination campaign for their staff. Which do you think would help productivity more?

Perhaps they hope he can put them in touch with someone who knows what the F is going to happen in January? If so, that's money wasted, no-one in Whitehall or Parliament knows that.

its corruption pure and simple

Yep. UK politics, finance and big businesses are full of legalized corruption. Removing EU protections is only going to make it worse.

For 100k they could employ a full time nurse and implement a full influenza vaccination campaign for their staff. Which do you think would help productivity more?

I'm not sure they could! They have 30,000 staff in more than 20 locations.
Why do you think it was one or the other?
Why have you assumed it was about productivity - Grayling's apparent role is to advise them on Environmental Strategy and engagement with enterprise bodies.

I'm not saying he should be allowed to do this, or that they should be allowed to ask him to - but the people running that company won't be stupid and aren't paying him that and expecting nothing in return. They'll have calculated that this is a good use of their cash, but unlikely that they decided to do this at the expense of operational efficiency activities.

The disappointing thing is this is at least twice in the last few months that that committee that is supposed to review such appointments has said, "this could create a perception that it would give the business an unfair advantage", but then let it happen.

The revolving door between cabinet and industry is a well trodden path. I imagine the fee represents his connections in Whitehall rather then his competence.

ACOBA are useless. See Private Eye passim ad nauseam for more details.

I imagine the fee represents his connections in Whitehall rather then his competence.

I think we can take that as read. Nobody would pay a bent nickel for Grayling’s “competence”

He knows a thing or two. But it's not about ferries.

It's 2021 budget season in a lot of businesses. There'll be a poor maintenance manager at one of their ports who's just been told to find £100k of savings in their budget for safety critical repairs and renewals for next year.

Get him on Radio 2 he is cheap in comparison to the tosh on at the moment.

Problem is that the electorate seems to be so apathetic and uninformed that they don’t GAF and politicians know they can do this with impunity.

This. A huge proportion of the UK populace are scum without two braincells to rub together. This has been amply demonstrated over the last five years.

It will continue thus, with the political scum lying to try to cover it up and the voter scum believing it, all the way to Armageddon.

I always had this naive belief that right will prevail, but that hope has been cruelly dashed these last years.

FWIW I think that describing other people as scum is quite disgusting really

See also Nick Clegg getting a job at Facebook just as there was political pressure to regulate social media.

Coincidence? I think not!

FWIW I think that describing other people as scum is quite disgusting really

Generalists gonna generalise

FWIW I think that describing other people as scum is quite disgusting really

People yes; Tories? No. They’ve made their scummy bed and they can be described as such with impunity.

FWIW I think that describing other people as scum is quite disgusting really

I agree. Had you said "A proportion of the UK populace are not interested in political debate beyond "We won, you lost, get over it!" and, a sizeable chunk of the remainder are completely unengaged beyond what is fed to them by a heavily biased media." then I would be inclined to agree. The standard of political conversations I've had with friends on the mainland is far higher than most conversations here. I've also dumped the UK MSM in favour of foreign or international news sources. Quite refreshing actually.

Political connections, Boris is a big fan of his.

This.

He might be an idiot, but he's a well connected idiot who can get information to/from the right people.
I thought everyone knew this was how big business worked?
Not just in this country either - just look at which companies got huge contracts to clear up in Iraq after the second Gulf war.. or more importantly, who was on the board of those companies...

Hutchison are pretty canny operators - as anyone who has had any business dealings with them will testify.

What this appointment probably indicates is that there's a gap between the strategy set by ministers and the way that policy is then implemented by civil servants.

I think Michael Gove referred to the same earlier this summer when he said that one of the challenges with Covid is that ministers have a set of levers to implement policies but those levers are connected to a huge pile of jelly.

Having worked with Civil Servants across a number of departments it's true that there are some ferociously capable people - but in the whole, many of the departments are slow moving, unwieldy, resistant to change and in some cases will cheerfully embarrass ministers if the opportunity arises. This proved to be the case with Amber Rudd. In her case it transpired that the information she'd been given before her resignation was incorrect - she carried the can but the civil servants didn't.

So in conclusion - it's a **possibility** that Grayling is more competent than other politicians and the media would have us believe. I've got no knowledge either way so I'm not saying he definitely is competent - just that the performance of ministers to a significant degree rests with the competency and culture of the teams underneath them.

TBH, if he can advise how they can operate a ferry service without any ferries - that must be a a huge potential cost saving for them,

For 100k they could employ a full time nurse

More like 4 nurses each working 5 times the hours he's getting paid for and still getting a payrise from what they're on now.

But, as said previously, would the nurses be much good at advising on Environmental Strategy and engagement with enterprise bodies. If I was running the business I would do the same and the £100K for one or two years could be good value based on what his connections can help deliver.

Not the point. But you carry on.

Another example of ACOBA's uselessness and pointlessness.
Yet again, they have done nothing more than ask the individual for '...an assurance'.
Not surprisingly, grayling provided the assurance requested of him; as if anyone is going to check.
I'm sure Hutchison see grayling as a facilitator - providing access to those in power.
The revolving door continues to spin.
Ex senior MoD bods moving into the defence sector is one that particularly stinks.

Grayling is no genius, but he was also landed with a particularly inept department in the DfT.

Don’t see what is corrupt in this. Whether you like it or think it is a sensible use of money is irrelevant. He’s been completely open and transparent about what he is doing and it is their money to spend.

timbog160
Full Member

Grayling is no genius, but he was also landed with a particularly inept department in the DfT.

That explains why he was such a disaster as justice secretary, in the DWP, and as shadow home secretary.

timbog160
Full Member

He’s been completely open and transparent about what he is doing and it is their money to spend.

That doesn't stop it from being corruption- it just shows that you can be brazen about it in the UK.

Ex senior MoD bods moving into the defence sector is one that particularly stinks.

and back the other way too....

Well, if we are trying to become a failed state on the economic and political levels, it makes sense to do it through cronyism and Mr Ten Percent as well.

Ex senior MoD bods moving into the defence sector is one that particularly stinks.

and back the other way too….

And the revolving door between HMRC and the various consultancies who then advise their corporate clients on how to minimise their tax bills

No conflict of interest there then?

Grayling really needs to up his incompetence if he wants to be taken seriously by his peers.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-54205561

It really is a parallel universe where ignorance, incompetence and failure are stepping stones to even more riches and power.

He knows a thing or two. But it’s not about ferries.

Or the justice system.
The ****t shouldv'e been sacked for what he did to the prison service alone.

I thought being an MP was supposed to be a full time job with really long hours according to mps when it’s payrise time. Liars as well as corrupt

MSP
Full Member
Grayling really needs to up his incompetence if he wants to be taken seriously by his peers.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-54205561

It really is a parallel universe where ignorance, incompetence and failure are stepping stones to even more riches and power.

Incredible times we live in. Incredible.

"It's their money"? WTF?

Graying. The only man ever to have been admitted to A&E for an Andrex related friction injury to his elbow.