Letter to the Prime Minister, 17th January 2010
Dear Prime MinisterWe wrote to Sir Gus O’Donnell on the (25/2/09), (6/3/09) and (6/12/09) re seriously fraudulent civil servants and their corrupt acts against us. Without reply!
So we write to you, re corruptive complaint procedures and a public sector cover-up culture; as seen in O’Donnells, blatant propagandist statement, “That if you break open a civil servant you will find inside, like a stick of rock the words “Honesty, Objectivity, Integrity and Impartiality”. A blatant corruption of facts!
This toxic Orwellian machinery, operating from within the Cabinet Office defeats every principle of parliamentary democracy, and should be exposed for what it is; no more than protective spin-laden camouflage, enabling already wanton civil servants to remain all but immune to scrutiny – a corrupting influence against good governance!
One remembers the abominable RPA and its corrupt handling of the EU payments to needy farmers etc. Our own case throws up corrupt civil servants – we show more!
Whilst it is recognised there are some ‘brilliant people within the civil service, there is also a mass of time serving drones who cannot be got rid of’. For instance, it has been observed that even where “government departments have been reorganised, where recommendations have been implemented, new systems put in place, action plans drawn up, where staff are re-deployed and given training – all has proved to be of little effect.” ‘Nothing it seems can ‘overcome the basic problem of civil service incompetence’.
This despoiling of the moral high ground re serving the public interest, is marked by the civil service’s infamous ‘failure to deliver on projects’ routine; also their immense ‘sick note’ culture and dodgy ‘leave entitlements’. There are also the much-abused over-the-top bonus payments that continue at a pace, gobbling up taxpayer money at a rate that Al Capone would have been proud of.
If this constant level of failure and abuse of the work ethic occurred within the private sector it would send many firms into liquidation. Just suppose a world-wide industrial giant were based and run by Whitehall, it would never survive this chronic civil service negligence of honest endeavour. Yet taxpayers, with the full knowledge of MPs, are forced to bankroll this most inept and wasteful civil service.
Having been corruptly handled by his civil servants, we felt betrayed by O'Donnells “Orwellian nonsense” and continue to fight such clandestine deceits spun from the corruptive propaganda machinery within Whitehall, from where the ‘old pals act’ has become more powerful than the ‘rule of law’.
Having no answer from Gus, we wrote to Liam Byrne then at the Cabinet Office. Here again we found no upstanding parliamentary hero ready to take up the electorate’s cause. We found that Byrne, the ‘misinformation’ minister re immigration figures, the overloaded expenses claimant, who had demanded, a’ la Dick Turpin, that
the Fees Office pay him monies that he was not entitled to. However, when the crooked fees scam broke – the seriously guilty and scared Byrne returned hurriedly to pay back his fraudulent highwayman demands. Again we realised that Byrne was just another MP of dubious substance, quite unfit to look into our claims re corrupt acts against us by governmental complaint procedures as run by civil servants and corrupt ombudsman! We even wrote to the MoJ with its expense-laden ministers!
After 6 years of protesting and purposely studying the continuing error and fraud within the parliamentary system, we realise there is an entrenched culture of deceit within the den of iniquity, formally known as the Mother of Parliament. We learnt that the MPs expense scandal was only the tip of the iceberg. We point out that the UK is sliding down to an all time low within the Worlds Corruption Perception Index. We have found our political system to be corrupt.
Once we had pinpointed the RevenueVOAs corrupt acts against us; we then had to endure the corrupting influence of the Ombudsman. Eventually I faced government barristers and lawyers within a Tribunal – followed by a dodgy Decision Notice. My crime – I, an old vet, a war pensioner, who had fought for a supposed democracy, had dared to complain about corrupt civil servants.
This gives serious indication that the squalid parliamentary system has grown into a monster. From where the immensity of the state overshadows the uncertainty of our justice - the impunity of clandestine governmental crime acting against victims of the government’s complaint procedure. For over 6 years we have called for probity amongst wholesale deceit
The many Ministers and departments we appealed to re corrupt acts against us, have been somewhat sullied by the MPs expense scandal etc, we now realise that many we appealed to would be morally unfit to represent us in our fight against corrupt civil servants. There is a coagulation of deceit from within, where those of us who are critical of such corruptive acts from within the public sector are often ‘put down’ as ’persistent complainants’, ‘vexatious’ or even as ‘Walter Mitty’ types. In our case it was indicated by ‘put down’ lawyers that we were malicious, because we fought against a corrupt RevenueVOA miscreant and the ensuing Orwellian procedures.
In our Tribunal hearing, it was put by lawyers in defence of the corrupt VOA that, “the complaint (ours) might be unsubstantiated or malicious.” It was also put forward that our complaints maybe ‘assumptions’. (para 36 D/Notice) Paragraph 36 is pure chicanery; we have evidence to disprove these deceitful legal claims. We ask how come such a decrepit crew has been allowed to snatch power away from the Mother of Parliament, and besmirch us with their abuse of the ‘rule of law’ We are questioning the failure of a supposed democratic government, we see in our case, the slow strangulation of human rights by devious civil servants, ombudsman and lawyers networking the corrupt government complaint procedure.
Too much bureaucratic deceit is continually dished-up by civil servants and officials. One can see it within departments such as the Home Office etc where false immigration and crime figures have done much damage to our nation. Whilst HO officials were extremely inefficient re facts and figures, they proved to be extremely efficient in claiming huge dodgy expenses! Jaquie Smith the former bungling Home Office Minister wished she ‘had been better trained’. This statement gives indication to a common failure across departments where unworldly hacks are promoted to positions they are totally unsuited for, many being completely out of their depth. Many having to rely on subterfuge in order to remain in office.
The MOD, where attempts were made to cover up its corrupt procurement disabilities that brought death and injuries to our troops. Where MOD staff trousered millions. We ask the obvious question; has the MOD developed a kickback culture?
Despite the overstaffed MODs ‘series of tragic errors’, and its doom-laden dysfunctionality, twelve (12) departmental chiefs have an average pension pot worth more than £1.4m each? Even the somewhat inadequate Chief of Defence, Jock Stirrup, has a disgraceful pension fund of £2.55m.
Despite all the deaths, injuries, blood sweat and tears inflicted on our troops and the nation, inept MOD officials continue to feather their nest with these pension coups. Its quite remarkable how, whichever way you turn, it seems that far too many within the public sector, have either their nose in the ‘trough’ or are ‘breaking the rules’. Such is the level of public sector ‘squalor’ allowed by all governments! We are calling for probity amongst wholesale deceit!
This stupid adherence to party hack politics is at the heart of failing governments – just how many MOD ministers have screamed out about the inept, fraudulent and corrupt MOD? This adds to the public disgust with all politics!
There has been great political deceit all round that causes the public to mistrust politicians. The fraudulent setting up of supposed ‘honest inquiries’ into serious matters do no more than cover-up and circumnavigate government deceit. Like millions of others we see that parliament has become so utterly fraudulent, and realise that our prayers for a just Society are not going to be solved by politicians, mandarins or civil servants. Even the new speaker was elected with corrupting undertones and party hack deceit – revenge is reverberating around the Commons on this matter; such is the stupefying insularity of hack politics in general. Will the new speaker remain?
One is reminded of Tony Blair’s comment on how Westminster is “Often the place of low skulduggery!” The expert hath spoken!
We also failed to get an answer from the Minister of Justice re ‘open courts’ whereby victims can circumnavigate the governments corrupt complaint procedure as run by civil servants and ombudsman. But once we discovered that Justice Ministers were involved in the expenses scandal, we knew the MoJ had been devalued, and had lost the moral authority to investigate and bring the corrupt RevenueVOA civil servant to book. It was not politic that corrupt departments investigate each other?
6 years has shown us a parliamentary cover-up culture of some magnitude, as seen in the seriously corrupt betrayal by parliament of Elisabeth Filkin, and parliaments fraudulent attempts to ‘cover-up’ the MPs expenses deceit. This shows how the Commons can be silent and corrosive. How the ‘old pals’ entrenched corruption of parliament shows that the MPs expenses scandal is only part of a bigger problem!
Digby Jones who really understood ‘value for money and accountability’ said Whitehall would be better run with just ‘half as many officials’. Very few Ministers are willing to describe their concerns re incompetent and overstaffed departments. One senior MP an ex-minister, observed ‘that parts of the civil service had collapsed into a level of incompetence previously unknown’.
Orwell knew of this political ‘inner squalor’ so well; he knew that ‘the promotion of public sector incompetents and party hacks’ led to the denial of honest endeavour. Led to the squalid denial of democratic accountability, from where justice and liberty would suffer. He knew how difficult it would be to cleanse the political stench from payroll vote ministers, mandarins and dodgy government lawyers– that such promotions were never going to be OK for democracy. He knew that it in order to clean up establishment corruption; it is necessary to jettison the Executive, Ministers and officials and the corrupting legal machinery that continually promotes hacks and severe incompetents to high office.
The promotion of incompetents within the public sector means they are forced to adopt deceptions, they have to bluff their way through the system causing constant internal chaos. It also means the incompetents have to be protected – often by government appointed regulators such as devious ombudsman and adjudicators
That’s why we are low down in the World Government Corruption Table. Large-scale departmental errors occur all the time, for instance:
(1)Treasury and its agencies, have long replaced the HO as being the ‘most unfit for purpose’. The Revenue making fortunes with ‘ripping-off phone charges’ from complainants who ring re Revenue errors.
(2) the Home Office seems to employ more than its fair share of crooks and cheats, and is forever giving out false information re crime and immigration.
(3) the utter corruption within the MOD where civil servants have trousered £millions, purchasing inferior equipment causing death and injury to our troops, the blaming of dead pilots covering up the faulty Chinook procurement failures, from where untold millions went down the drain.
(4) the PFI, too often taken to the cleaners by contractors, and ‘cowboy’ builders.
(5) the CSA civil servants still making enormous errors as reported in Dec 09, paying the wrong people, making cock ups and failing to back down when challenged.
(6) The seriously dysfunctional and corrupt RevenueVOA, whose executive apology re incomprehensible long-term incompetence and fraudulence re the Ports tax fiasco,
was described by one MP as being, ‘In the league of mealy-mouthed statements that makes Pontious Pilates hand-washing, an act of generosity and decency’!
The mealy-mouth was then promoted to the Treasury – the corrosive ‘old pals act’. A legal representative claimed that the VOA, like the Treasury had no understanding of the economic chaos caused by their actions re the Ports Business fiasco.
From the House of Lords, in a debate it was stated that the VOA had made a ‘Cataclysmic series of errors’ - much like the HO and the MOD etc.
Another telling piece in relation to the Revenues dishonesty - it was once claimed that Revenue staff took half the fraud across all departments. One is reminded of Gus’s false claims re public sector ‘Honesty’ Objectivity, Integrity, and Impartiality? As members of the electorate we were calling for ‘probity amongst wholesale deceit’.
(7) With the initial setting up of the FSA it became evident that no one in its early days had a clue about banking – jobs for the boys – another failure to deliver.
(8) An efficiency drive at the Dept of Transport where a new computer system was supposed to save £57m in administration – is now going to cost over £80m.
(9) the SATs fiasco in Education.
(10) the police failing to protect the public.
(11) The civil service golden pension glitch? Where some £125m (could be much more) was said to have somehow found its way into the civil service pension fund as if by a miracle. More like sleight of hand!
One could go on and on re public sector/civil service incompetence, fraud and corruption.
A.N. Wilson the historian asked: “Why is the state so utterly incompetent?" Of the civil services golden pension ‘glitch’, Wilson wonders “ how the blunder had gone undetected for so many years, how come it was overlooked by an army of civil servants and bureaucrats whose job it was to administer public pensions”. We say to Wilson “This is how a corrupt public sector organisation enriches itself” The public see the civil service ‘pension glitch’ as fishy - on the same par as the dodgy MPs expenses – they see the civil service pension glitch as just another well- thought-out public sector ‘nice-little-earner’. More corruption.
A.N.Wilson also asks, “How many more mistakes will it take to realise that we need a wholly different approach to public administration?” Well, seeing the public sector cannot be trusted to regulate itself, we ask: ‘How about the electorate demanding a sort of Select Committee of its own, setting up an Audit Trail in an attempt to stop the enormous waste of public money?’ Very few MPs, other than the Commons Accounts Committee have made the effort to flag-up the billions misspent on failed government projects?
Having written to Jack Straw re ‘open courts’ to replace the governments corrupt complaints procedure as run by civil servants and the ombudsman, our letters to the MoJ were passed on to the Treasury for over 12 months; the Treasury never replied? The MoJ then sent our letters on to the Cabinet Office. We became hopeful, and wrote to Gus ODonnell, but once we learnt of his deceitful propaganda glorifying the incompetent civil service, our hopes vanished. Gus O’Donnell’s acquiescing propaganda promotes the situation where even the most idiotic of civil servants are rewarded with ‘buggins turn’ promotion. And to think, Gus has a pension pot worth around £2.1m.
Whitehall has become the BNPs best publicity agent!
The moral high ground of serving the public interest has been despoiled by incompetent Ministers, mandarins and the lazy civil servant. Senior civil servants write how the civil service is a ‘Managers nightmare and a slackers dream’…another writes; ‘For every person who is keen, able and responsible, there is at least one for whom the workplace is about ‘rights’….and from another; ‘Managing in the civil service is an endless battle against suffocating HR process and bureaucracy’.
Young men, troops should not die supporting such political skulduggery.
AW & I Tanner cc to all interested in governmental corruption.