back to article Mandy accused of screwing small biz

Web design and consultancy firms have reacted with outrage to Lord Mandelson's latest attempt to get more British small businesses online. The launch of "Getting British Business Online" saw Mandy promise to get 100,000 British small and medium enterprises online for the first time by the end of 2010. And the partners for …

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  1. Red Bren
    Pirate

    How to get Mandy's attention?

    Perhaps small.biz.uk should club together and buy a yacht?

  2. Graham Marsden
    Thumb Down

    Mandy accused of screwing small biz

    Bear, woods,.Pope, Catholic... you know the rest.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Anotehr trough for the fat piggies!

    So basically Mandy's mates on the boards of companies get a load of free cash from the Gov, while the business get a tiny web presence in a sea of other sites!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Sour Grapes

    Lesson in hand - next time, do not cost save on "entertaining the right people".

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Lesson in hand?

      I think the lesson in hand would be to string up openly corrupt filth such as Mandelson by the scrotum, whilst publicly destroying companies engaged in such practices.

      I bet that possibility would prise apart the Mandelson/BT GeffenGoogle fuck-sandwich pretty quick.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Alert

        Strung up by the scrotum?

        That's possibly part of his yacht-based pleasure activities already.

  5. bobbles31
    Thumb Down

    Only in 21st Century Britain

    would a Government help small businesses by giving a shit ton of cash to huge businesses.

    The sooner that Mandy gets strung up, the better.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Accountability

    I see nothing but Google, Google, Google throughout this article.

    Why is the UK Government using taxpayer's money to impose the use of products and services of a company that's currently being investigated by the EU for anti-competitive practices and breaches of EU privacy laws?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Easy question

      'Why is the UK Government using taxpayer's money to impose the use of products and services of a company that's currently being investigated by the EU for anti-competitive practices and breaches of EU privacy laws?'

      Since the British government is also currently being investigated by the EU for anti-competitive practices (Northern Rock) and breaches of EU privacy laws (Phorm/BT), they might just want Google's company.

      Of course where things differ is that most people like Google, Google is successful and Google has lots of money.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I think I may be able to assist here...

      You mean the UK government that's currently being investigated over such breaches of privacy as Phorm, Section 44 stop and search, DNA retention policies and so on? That UK government?

    3. MinionZero
      Big Brother

      Mandelson + Google = ?

      @"Why is the UK Government using taxpayer's money to impose the use of products and services of a company that's currently being investigated by the EU for anti-competitive practices and breaches of EU privacy laws?"

      I would like to know why is Mandelson using taxpayer's money to get so many onto Google.

      Other than lining more corporate directors pockets I want to know what that manipulative sociopathic weasel Mandelson is up to. Why does he want people on Google. What does Mandelson get out of this deal with Google? He is certainly sending a lot of business Google's way, so why do it, what is he hoping to gain out of it?

      1. Mike 102

        what does he get out of it?

        Probably something to do with his googlies...

  7. g e

    Hmmm

    Maybe I should see if there's an approved suppliers list I can get my Co. put onto and grab some of that pork...

    After all a pound in my pocket from that is a pound that's not in The Dark Lord of Disingenuity's

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    hmm

    I can see why those companies are upset, but there may be hope for the rest of us web devs - once a company is online with it's geocities style cardboard cut out web page from google or whoever, they'll get the itch for something a bit more individual with some custom functionality (maybe).

    or maybe they would just be interested in having a site built/hosted by a firm that doesn't hand over all your personal/confidential data to the NSA/chinese government on a whim?

  9. Andrew Culpeck
    Thumb Down

    cuts in expences...

    .. so the goverment ministers have to find another way to line their pockets.

  10. MJI Silver badge
    Flame

    Why won't that irrelevance go away!

    Why does Darth Meddlesom keep on? We do not want him, noone does, he irrelevance to the UK is so annoying.

    All he wants to cuddle up to rich foreigners and promise them all of our tax money.

    GO AWAY WE DO NOT WANT YOU!

  11. Bassey

    Thank fuck

    Thank fuck the labour government will soon be out on their arses, replaced by the Conservatives who have promised to hand over Government IT to.....oh. Google.

    Shit.

    It's almost like they are all the same and it doesn't really matter who you vote for.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      It DOES matter who you vote for.

      "...It's almost like they are all the same and it doesn't really matter who you vote for."

      It does matter who you vote for, but if you want real change, ensure you don't for any of the main three parties (sic). However, make sure you vote for someone - a "non vote" is Plan B for those with the power to stay in power.

      1. Mike 102

        maybe...

        it's time to give the libdems a go... are they still called the libdems???

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Andy Burham Health Secretary

    .... on the subject of the Staffordshire Health Trust failings, said yesterday to MPs

    "We must end the situation where a senior NHS manager who has failed in one job can simply move to another elsewhere. This is not acceptable to the public"

    ... much like Mandy getting the boot twice, yet here is unelected and unchallenged again.

    Yep Labour and Conservative are almost the same and the system that allows Mandy to come back from the dead so many times is one that even our un educated youth see as pointless.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Pirate

    Predatory pricing much?

    As far as I understand it, predatory pricing (deliberately setting the price below the cost of production so as to force competitors out of the market) is illegal in the UK. I'm just guessing here, but free seems to be fairly clearly below cost of production (nominet registration fee is none zero).

    On the other hand, you can register as many domains as you want through www.gbbo.co.uk. The contract limits you to one domain per business and you can only sell them as going concerns (which means you just will need to register the domain name as a company before you sell it at a huge profit).

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Grenade

    Helping small businesses

    So we're a small company specialising in designing websites for small companies and struggling somewhat due to the b(w)ankers, then this imbecile decides that giving taxpayer's money to one of the most successful businesses on the planet and giving our prospective clients to it is good for UK business. It's enough to make you want to curse........

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    Logical progression...

    Mandybum has already screwed over half the government and most of the British public. Small businesses must be a logical next step.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Misread your title as.....

    "Mandy accused of screwing small boyz"

    1. Martin 71 Silver badge
      Flame

      Title here

      Close enough.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Grenade

    Deadly combination...

    Unelected AND incompetent.

    We keep hearing about how useless Mandy is, how he's managing to screw over the small businesses, how he's trying to hand the internet to a bunch of entertainment companies and even abolish privacy, but the guy is STILL in power and he even seems to be allowed to run the entire freaking country.

    We need to get rid of him already!! The elections can't come soon enough.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Unfortunately...

      ...Mandybum is in the House of Lords, and not subject to re- or de-election. I wouldn't count on him losing influence, even if the Tories get in - after all much of the Labour lot have no time for him, but that hasn't slowed him down. I fear he might well be doing his bad penny routine even after the Election.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If only Mandel had just had girls

    that's all really.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      Oh dear, no....

      Ughhh!!! You're not helping !

  19. Jon Press

    Regional policy gone national?

    This appears to be an example of a failed regional policy going national. Our esteemed local enterprise agency funded a similar type of program some years back in which one favoured supplier was able to offer to significantly discount their services with the help of large dollops of taxpayers' money with the avowed intent of building up the local digital economy. Net result, decline of local digital economy after a short blip in which a bunch of people (both other suppliers and choice-starved potential clients) got very disillusioned.

    Strangely enough, businesses will generally pay for something they see an economic benefit in doing and would rather make their own decisions about how their money is spent than have political f***wits do it for them.

  20. Andraž 'ruskie' Levstik

    Anyone considered...

    ...that those businesses don't want to be online for whatever reasons?

  21. dephormation.org.uk
    Big Brother

    Get Your Small Business Online with BT? You must be joking?

    So you can have your customers 'tagged' and creamed off by BT/Phorm's industrial espionage?

    If you have a small business and you care about its long term success; don't buy communications services from BT ( or Virgin Media/TalkTalk).

    If you do decide to go online... buy an SSL certificate for your web site (at £30 its an easy decision) and encrypt absolutely everything.

    Otherwise BT Directors will steal the content of your communications, and strip your customers and suppliers away from you. As they did in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

    And not one regulator will stop them.

    According to the Home Office and ICO - small business consent for industrial espionage can be 'implied'.

    According to the Police, covert industrial espionage and communication surveillance directed at small businesses 'is not a crime'.

    And the CPS will take two years to decide in silence whether or not to prosecute.

    You can thank Peter Mandelson, Lord Madelson of Corfu and Moscow, Minister for Yaching and News International.

  22. arthbutt
    Happy

    Hang on, look at the offer!

    What a lot of venom and spite!

    First take more of a considered look at what has been put on offer - and it is only an offer, supported by basically a consortium of British businesses for British business. If the offer is taken up by British businesses they will all be a lot better off than they are now. I am sure that if another company can offer the same as Google, e-skills would be delighted to let everyone know...

    Arthur Butterfield

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