Headline
Cabinet reshuffle leaves UK digital policy and GDS rudderless. And now the news... sums it up perfectly, although you could happily omit 'digital policy and GDS'
Responsibility for broadband delivery in the UK has been handed to Margot James following Matt Hancock's promotion to Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in prime minister Theresa May's reshuffle of the top jobs this week. But amid the Cabinet shake-up, the matter of who controls digital policy remains …
his first task was "solving" the Y2K bug using "Cobalt".
It's a pity he didn't extend this into a learning about character sets.
In the meantime, let's consider the new Minister for Universities and Science. Sam Gyimah who, according to the Beeb, is ex Goldman Sachs and read - you've guessed it - PPE. So really well qualified for the job.
"unless they have done a real job for at least 10 years"
Agreed. And banking doesn't count as a real job.
You softies. There should be NO REDEMPTION for PPE graduates. Useless, feckless tossers the lot of them.
Far be it from me to suggest that he was appointed to further Mrs May's diversity agenda, regardless of knowing less than the square root of bugger all about science. How did such a gormless cow get to be prime minister?
How did such a gormless cow get to be prime minister?
Have you not seen "Yes, Prime Minister"? The selection process is well outlined there.
For the unfortunates who haven't seen it, the process is thus:
1. Two strong candidates with ability stand for the job. Each has rabid followers who will never, never vote for the other to be PM.
2. Deadlock ensues
3. A compromise, third candidate is put forward - someone who no-one really strongly objects to - usually on the basis that they haven't actually done anything that anyone objects to (the last 4 words are probably redundant)
4. Everyone involved holds their noses and votes for the compromise candidate on the basis that at least they are not candidate A or B.
Thus, the strong candidates of proven ability don't get to be PM whilst a candidate that is such a non-entity that no-one objects to them gets elected.
Here endeth the lesson.
Leaving 'the BT drunk' to continue sitting on its hands, blocking the pub doorway for everyone else, with no access to the pure fibre shots, until at least another Christmas (or ten more like).
The continued reliance on BT's obfuscated, bamboozled copper/alu carcass on lines over 500m (250m as crow flies), is going to come back and kick the UK in the teeth, post Brexit.
Useless bunch of self-centred Tory politicians.
Weasels Ofcom are pretty much, BT's fcuk buddy.
@Anonymous Coward
"The continued reliance on BT's obfuscated, bamboozled copper carcass on lines over 500m (250m as crow flies), is going to come back and kick the UK in the teeth, post Brexit."
Post brexit dismal bandwidth / speeds will have to fight lots of other things for ist place on the kicking UK in the teeth list
As for "digital", most MPs are digital to me, in so much as they make me raise 1 digit of my hand toward them
I've honestly felt for ages that you cant make a competent government even if you pick from all parties simultaneously.
The general election always feels like pick the useless greedy mororns in your colour of choice.
The colour matters not as they will all screw everything up in the end.
Someone sensible came up with the idea of over 600 MPs because such a large number will spend far more time arguing with each other than doing any governing. The work-around was to select a few - the cabinet - to make all the decisions then coerce, intimidate or con most of the party to vote as required. The cabinet used to be about a dozen with reasonably separate responsibilities so each could set policy in their bailiwick without consulting the others for every detail.
At some point it became so obvious that even a prime minister noticed there were not 12 candidates in the party capable of running a branch of government. The solution to decades of negative selection was simple: increase the size of the cabinet to about 100 and give each of them overlapping job titles.
"Both Number 10 and the Cabinet Office say it isn't their responsibility to decide who gets the brief, leaving the direction of the Government Digital Service rudderless"
Tories like to go on about how government should be run more like a business, and this state of affairs proves that they are finally putting that principle into effect.