Comments on Tory Bear - right-wing political gossip: Did Christine Not Get the Memo?

The civil service code doesn't go far enough. ...

2009-11-30T22:42:53.205Z

The civil service code doesn't go far enough.

Anyone working for the government should completely and fully remove themselves from politics: no voting, no membership in any group that is engaged politically, no political activity of any kind. Anything else creates a massive agency problem and allows for the capture of politics by swivel servants out to loot the taxpayers.

This is a huge issue around the Western world, where nurses, teachers, and other unions are very political and have successfully cowed politicians of all stripes such that they have immense pensions that are impossible to pay for. They are also untouchable until, or even past, moments of crisis. A return to decent politics practically requires a default and liquidation of the government (i.e. worse than the California budget).

She should be fired and pursued for her salary as of the day she was engaged in politics.

Quigley - sacked in the backfield for a 13 yard lo...

2009-11-30T22:34:01.130Z

Quigley - sacked in the backfield for a 13 yard loss.

Has it occurred to anyone saying things such as; ...

2009-11-30T14:50:44.443Z

Has it occurred to anyone saying things such as;

"How can somebody with such anti Tory sentiments (see her blog) be impartial as all civil servants are required to be in their job."

The way you can do it is simple, it's called professionalism. Do all doctors support sex before marriage? No. However, do they find it within themselves to give out free condoms and give safe sex advice etc to patients who are unmarried? Yes. Because personal and professional attitudes are different.

I regularly encounter people in the world of work who I have simply no desire to associate with, let alone work with. This has been the case (some times especially so) for previous bosses, but in my personal, professional capacity I worked very well with them and gave them whatever support I had to. I'm sure Christine is equally capable of doing this.

The point is whether her personal activities undermine her professional role, and by the civil service's own standards (junior roles can be politically active outside of work, as made clear from other comments) it doesn't.

To suggest because she holds strongly held views (i.e. 'she's so anti Tory') is to have some out of touch unreal view of civil servants as being apathetic unemotional unfeeling robots. They ALL have political views, they just have to ignore them and be neutral whilst at work (note the AT WORK part of that sentence).

Or are some of you seriously suggesting the civil service should only be made up of the politically apathetic and undecided? If so, that'd disqualify an awful lot of Tory supporters too (I'd bet money to say the civil service has contained more Tory supporters than Labour over the years...)

@Roger Pearse The nationalisation tendancies of ...

2009-11-30T14:37:16.788Z

@Roger Pearse

The nationalisation tendancies of the BNP make them a left wing organisation.

To claim that equality is a trademark of the left is equally laughable - womens suffrage under Baldwin in 1928 springs to mind.

"James Goldstone Some facts Junior ci...

2009-11-30T13:58:17.542Z

"James Goldstone
Some facts
Junior civil servants can do what Christine is doing.
Christine has been LYL Campaigns Officer for over a year now and, as far as I can tell, has never hid this from her employer."

She is, now, Chairman, which is a different position, altogether.

There is no way that she will be able to establish the "same relationship with those whom you may be required to serve in some future Government", if that Govt is Tory - or do you live in the same Wonderland that most Labour MPs seem to inhabit?.

"the nast party" Oooh, offensive. I don...

2009-11-30T13:35:15.955Z

"the nast party"

Oooh, offensive. I don't even know what that means.

Some facts Junior civil servants can do what Chri...

2009-11-30T13:25:03.521Z

Some facts

Junior civil servants can do what Christine is doing.

Christine has been LYL Campaigns Officer for over a year now and, as far as I can tell, has never hid this from her employer.

A question

What are you trying to do? Get her sacked or have her resign from LYL? Either are petty and pointless.

This is why Tories get labelled the nast party.

So, it says "You must: carry out your respons...

2009-11-30T13:22:23.497Z

So, it says "You must:
carry out your responsibilities in a way that is fair, just and equitable and reflects the Civil Service commitment to equality and diversity"?

Um. Aren't "commitments to 'equality' and 'diversity'" a left-wing platform themselves? When did we vote that the civil service should be committed to giving special treatment to the ever-lengthening list of groups favoured by the liberal establishment: immigrants, feminists, gays, immigrants (there's more than there were when I started typing so I'd better say them again), moslems, etc etc?

I wonder just how much equality and fairness a BNP member would encounter?

"act in a way which deserves and retains the ...

2009-11-30T13:21:40.666Z

"act in a way which deserves and retains the confidence of Ministers, while at the same time ensuring that you will be able to establish the same relationship with those whom you may be required to serve in some future Government"

I think that that is where she will find problems. I can't see her establishing the "same relationship with those whom you may be required to serve in some future Government" in any way shape or form.

The Tory Tavern landlord recently cancelled his ap...

2009-11-30T13:02:51.732Z

The Tory Tavern landlord recently cancelled his application for a civil servant position on the grounds that his planned blog was going to be just a bit partisan.

Everyone has political views, but when you make them as public as this Christine woman has, you can't realistically expect to hold onto a position that expects complete political neutrality.

Well done Tory Bear.

The Chair of London Young Labour is an internal pa...

2009-11-30T12:23:35.798Z

The Chair of London Young Labour is an internal party position. Junior civil servants are not usually barred from holding internal party positions. I know people who are active within the Labour Party, Tory Party and Lib Dems who are civil servants.

As I understand it, junior civil servants are usua...

2009-11-30T11:55:10.981Z

As I understand it, junior civil servants are usually allowed to engage in local politics but aren't allowed to engage on a national level.

London Young Labour is regional, not national or local, so it would depend.

It's about time somebody started shouting abou...

2009-11-30T11:50:51.864Z

It's about time somebody started shouting about this kind of thing.

Labour have got their stooges everywhere - stop the rot.

You can't watch any news programme or have dealings with any of the big quango's without a leading figure either being Labour or the spouse of.

They politicise EVERYTHING. The whole lot needs a thorough cleansing.

TB is spot on here. How can somebody with such ant...

2009-11-30T11:42:28.108Z

TB is spot on here. How can somebody with such anti Tory sentiments (see her blog) be impartial as all civil servants are required to be in their job.

TB always protects his sources :P

2009-11-30T11:36:58.462Z

TB always protects his sources :P

and how on earth would you know that her boss '...

2009-11-30T11:35:43.113Z

and how on earth would you know that her boss 'flatly denied' her permission to do anything?!?

Unless (as suggested) this was leaked by someone close to her (i.e. same party) and this is in fact, what I originally said, actually about a personal vindictive attack.

Intresting her Twitter feed has just gone protecte...

2009-11-30T11:35:34.369Z

Intresting her Twitter feed has just gone protected.

Was open last night...

Seems the Defra machine is in motion.

As TB understands it she did ask permission to be ...

2009-11-30T11:32:01.176Z

As TB understands it she did ask permission to be political and was flatly denied.

She was refused permission to go to Labour Conference due to the sensitivity of her role.

Indeed Anonymous, there are loads of people in the...

2009-11-30T11:29:39.438Z

Indeed Anonymous, there are loads of people in the lower grades who do political activity. I have a very good friend who is a low-ranking civil servant and is out canvassing (for the Tories) most nights.

It's obscene to suggest that millions of people should have their rights to put forward their views and seek to advance them in their spare time. It's the sort of idiocy that meant a teacher had to resign as a Brent Councillor because his supply agency got some work from the Council.

People who have real decision-making power or who work directly with Ministers, fine, but a bar on political activity because you do DEFRA's photocopying? Crazy.

P.s. mean't political colour. Absoltuely not ...

2009-11-30T11:29:39.437Z

P.s. mean't political colour. Absoltuely not taking this into racial areas!

The question that really needs to be asked is who ...

2009-11-30T11:29:39.436Z

The question that really needs to be asked is who told you about her employment status now?

Hardly coincidence that the election was resolved on a coin toss. Someone from her own party leaked that information to do her down.

Nasty but impressive.

"Like all servants of the Crown, civil servan...

2009-11-30T11:26:04.324Z

"Like all servants of the Crown, civil servants are legally barred from standing for election as Members of Parliament or any other political office.[16] Also, under regulations first adopted in 1954 and revised in 1984, members of the Senior Civil Service (the top management grades) are barred from holding office in a political party or publicly expressing controversial political viewpoints, while less senior civil servants at an intermediate (managerial) level must generally seek permission to participate in political activities.

The most junior civil servants are permitted to participate in political activities, but must be politically neutral in the exercise of their duties"

No Idea who she is, but I'm sure she's not a manderian

go read the anti tory sentiments on her blog and f...

2009-11-30T11:25:55.210Z

go read the anti tory sentiments on her blog and figure out how they fit in with the ability to work with any government.

She only came onto my radar when she won hence this course of action.

If I had known that a Labourlist contributor was a civil servant I would have taken this up earlier.

Well yes, in their professional life they do, but ...

2009-11-30T11:22:34.875Z

Well yes, in their professional life they do, but outside of it not neccesarily.

For claritys sake the phrase you highlight says;

"comply with any restrictions that have been laid down on your political activities" what if no restrictions (in terms of what she does on her personal life) have been laid down on her role? This is not unusual if she's in a fairly junior post.

Anyway, as Campaigns officer she would be equally as in violation, so not sure why you're starting this now.

I'm very much not Christine, just someone who also has to seperate work/politics and wouldn't like to have someone try and hound me at work purely because i'm a different colour from them.

Morning Christine, No it's not vindictive. Ci...

2009-11-30T11:19:03.149Z

Morning Christine,

No it's not vindictive. Civil Servants must remain neutral.

End of.