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UK Government Repression
This is why governments pass ridiculously wide-ranging laws with the promise "Oh we won't use it inappropriately". Unfortunately, with the mainstream media all owned either by them or the people who put them in power in the first place, they will always get away with it.
Possible future deterrent ...
Use this episode as a template on how to deal with future issues in this area
Who made the RIPA request and have they been fired - if not why notWere the supervisors of the person requesting RIPA disclosure aware of what was going on and have they been firedAll such personnel fired for this type of behaviour should have all their own pension contributions returned to them and then be excluded from their employer’s pension scheme - that should be a wake-up call for the public sector employeesKeep going with this process up the management hierarchy until all the 'cancer' has been removed - after all that is precisely what surgeons do
and if Lin Homer knew what was going on then she should be given her marching orders as well - under the same terms as above (i.e. no pension - ouch!)
Finally, what about the person who authorised the application under RIPA. Clearly something went wrong here as well, so they should also be held to account because their judgement was at fault
Send a message in these terms and maybe it will be less likely to occur in the future
Simply trotting out the old 'lessons have been learnt' just doesnt wash any longer
Liz is over promoted
and in my opinion bloody useless, why do people like her get to where they do, a radical shake up of the civil service is still required
Why?
Did Homer come up with a plausible explanation as to why they had in effect gifted £10 million to GS or was he merely concerned with HMRC's wounded pride?
Mrs Hodge shocked her to her bones
Having just read the Governments publication on RIPA at:-
https://www.gov.uk/surveillance-and-counter-terrorism
I am left dumb struck as to how any one looking at this could justify its usage in these circumstances. As an ex HMRC employee of some 19years I would guess that there will be senior officials right up to Board level who were aware and approved of the application to invoke RIPA. This was at the time a very high profile matter at the time which contributed to the early exit of Dave Hartnett and I would guess that these same senior people wanted "payback" for embarrassment suffered and also to send a message to any other right thinking person that the price they would pay for taking such action would be very unpalatable. It could be argued that these were the actions of a group of twisted, vindictive petty minded individuals out for revenge or more interestingly you could read Lin Homers response to PAC where she said---
"I have other duties of care to parliament and other individuals,” was this her coded way of hinting at Political pressure being applied which resulted in the actions taken? perhaps some one should ask Mr David Gauke (Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury) this question as if anyone should know then its him!!
I watched Lin
get interviewed by the PAC a while back....wet blanket at best - as carnmores says how do these people achieve these positions...no one better...seriously!?
Trust us
Perhaps a lesson to be learned by politicians (including the Treasury Select Committee) is that when you grant powers to civil servants under statute the rule should be don't trust us because someone somewhere along the way will abuse the powers we have just granted them. If this attitude was adopted they might be less inclined to grant wide catch all powers and more inclined to build in checks and balances. Lin Homer gave the typical arrogant response about responsibilities without showing any consideration about the need to show responsibility to the ultimate victim 'Integrity'
Beggars belief
That these people (MH etc) have no idea about the animal they preside over and have unleashed on the public or is this just their lying spin machine that provides this righteous indignation.
facts:
Where are these rules used? A: on the oppression of innocent dissenters
Where are they not used? A: for the management of criminal and terrorist activity
The results:
Successful in promoting criminal activity and eliminating the barriers and competition to criminal gangs.
Conclusion:
HMRC appear as on the payroll of criminals.
The future: more rules can now be created to further suppress the innocent and increase the profits of criminal activity.
oh well that's spin for you.
Lin Homer is the civil servant who became chief executive of Birmingham City Council in 2002 and was reprimanded by the Electoral Commission for her failings as returning officer in the vote rigging scandal involving labour candidates to the council in 2004. A scandal described by the Election Commissioner as one that would disgrace a banana republic. She resigned in 2005 only to reappear at the Border Agency where she was criticised for catstrophic leadership failure. She then took over as Permanent Secretary at the Department of Transport where she oversaw the failed West Coast Mainline Rail franchise and was identified as one of the officials whose failings cost the taxpayers some £100,000,000. That's right. One hundred million pounds. Her reward for this latest period of success in her working life was to be appointed as Chief Executive of HMRC where she has brought her rather obvious talents to bear given the recent commentary on performance by the Treasury Select committee.
Perhaps she could go back to school where she could suffer similar bullying that she oversaw being meted out to Mr Mba.