tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048449668150968412.post2604113450579168332..comments2023-11-14T08:19:54.657+00:00Comments on DMossEsq: WrinklesInTheMatrix: Oliver Letwin 1David Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12345636878071983416noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048449668150968412.post-14991482512737677942011-10-18T21:01:20.581+01:002011-10-18T21:01:20.581+01:00Normally I would happily join in and say something...Normally I would happily join in and say something like:<br /><br />Quite right, Mr Gronmark. It is Whitehall's duty to bind and truss ministers, to plan their every minute and encounter and Whitehall prides itself on doing just that, no telephone call gets through, no letter, no nothing, unless Whitehall wishes it to, and certainly no visitor.<br /><br />It is possible that Whitehall, not liking the cut of Dr Fox's jib, deliberately allowed him to break the ministerial code precisely in order to be rid of him. And that is, if you follow that line, why the <i>Telegraph</i> today has been fed stories about Foxy ignoring the warnings he was given. Otherwise, heaven forfend, Whitehall might be seen to be guilty of a dereliction of duty.<br /><br />Mr Pickles, like Reagan's budget deficit, is big enough to look after himself. But it's public servants lower down the food chain that he is getting rid of. Unlike Michael Gove, who seems to have an admirable ability to dislodge real mandarins from Whitehall. That looks to me like becoming a metric for democracy, how many notches are there in the minister's Colt 45, how many members of Whitehall has he dispensed with? The greater the number, the more the balance of power moves to politicians, away from officials.<br /><br />But today, no I cannot join in happily. I am crying into my mashed potatoes. Goldman Sachs lost money in the second quarter. Stop the clock, as Auden said.David Mosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12345636878071983416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048449668150968412.post-20810877122286105392011-10-18T17:30:05.906+01:002011-10-18T17:30:05.906+01:00Okat, DMossEsq - Liam Fox: I read a prepsoterous a...Okat, DMossEsq - Liam Fox: I read a prepsoterous article somewhere last week that put forward the rproposition that someone should have informed his Permanent Secretary that Werrity was at the MoD more often than the Defence Secretary himself. That perplexed me. Is it conceivable the Permanent Secretary didn't know? In which case, why in the name of God didn't he alert all and sundry to the dangers? Was Fox manoeuvred out because he was sacking people? In which case, should we expect something unpleasant to happen to Eric Pickles before too long? We need to know!Scott Gronmarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15118026157459333174noreply@blogger.com