You're being inspecific on the corruption claim. I assume the contracts without tender thing is aimed at Grayling? If we find ourselves short of care workers, then immigration rules can be changed to bring them in. We have the choice. Incomers will be monitored carefully and any with criminal records for prison terms of over a year etc will be rejected. Brexit gives the UK the power to take decisions that were not available as an EU member
Many key workers - though by no means all - are low or unskilled and therefore get paid as such. For example I've worked on the bins for a couple of days as part of my induction when I worked at a large waste management business and I was doing the same job as the guys that were doing it every day. I've also worked in a supermarket (as part of a head office support programme one Christmas) again without more than a few minutes training as it isn't difficult stacking shelves Of course there are many key workers who have to train for years and undertake significant study in their own time and at their own expense In general terms wages are set by market forces, even in the public sector, through supply and demand. Not a perfect system but it works the majority of the time I've done a lot of work on public sector tenders and they can be incredibly complicated with a lot of stages to get through on bigger contracts, but the process tends to be pretty transparent and the scoring and qualitative assessments are normally shared with all participants with some contracts having appeal processes in place too The media loves a story about political donations - frequently from journos that have never read or understood the way in which tenders work - but on the ground it is a lot more complicated and the scrutiny can be intense at the pre bid stage with any interests or connections having to be declared
You're welcome....I just thought you'd appreciate some real life personal experience as opposed to received opinion from the media or those with an axe to grind Still, I accept that some people just don't like to accept facts and prefer to rely on opinion however unsupported it may be No point in having a forum if we all agree on everything.....
Absolutely. What would you make of this and the several other, on the face of it, dubious contracts handed out recently? https://www.theguardian.com/politic...s-given-covid-19-contract-without-open-tender
Not all government or local authority spend is put out to tender - this has always been the case regardless of the government of the day A tender process can last 6 months - more for very large or complicated construction or defence contracts - and sometimes the urgency of a requirement means that an informal process is undertaken instead. This can be as simple as awarding a contract to a previously listed supplier who has the capacity to do the work at short notice Some sectors - for example PR - are notoriously intertwined with politics and it would be unusual for any firm not to have employees that didn't have direct connections with all of the major parties My concern on any public sector contract would be (with my private sector hat on) - does the work actually need doing, does the price and service offering represent value for money, and is the most effective available supplier being used Sadly a lot of journalists don't seem to understand procurement basics, seeking instead to only ever view things through a political lens But then again why should anyone believe me, someone without a political dogma but with 3 decades of practical experience?
Dambusters dog: Headstone replaced to remove racist name 16 July 2020 S please log in to view this image Image copyright PA Media Image caption The RAF said the gravestone had been replaced "as part of an ongoing review of its historical assets" A gravestone honouring the Dambusters' dog - whose name is a racial slur - has been replaced. The 617 Squadron's mascot, a black Labrador, died on the day of its famous "bouncing bomb" raid on German dams in 1943. A memorial at the Dambusters' World War Two base, RAF Scampton, bearing the dog's name was removed. The RAF said it did not want to give prominence to an offensive term that went against its ethos. Sir Edward Leigh, Conservative MP for Gainsborough, said he was "very fearful of our ability today to erase or re-write history". More news and stories from Lincolnshire please log in to view this image Image copyright PA Media/NZBCA Archives Image caption The dog's grave is at RAF Scampton, home to an exhibition about the mission, known as Operation Chastise Kris Hendrix, campaigns manager at the RAF Museum, said the dog - which the BBC is not naming - was a "drinking buddy" for squadron members and would consume litres of beer before passing out. He was hit by a car and killed on 16 May 1943, but his death was kept from the airmen as it was feared they might see it as a bad omen. Mr Hendrix added: "It was such a famous dog, it was such a famous squadron and that meant the grave has been kept until today. "The standards have changed throughout the years, while it may not have been a controversial name during the Second World War, things are very different now." please log in to view this image Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Labrador was owned by the squadron's wing commander, Guy Gibson (centre) Sir Edward said he had written to the station commander of RAF Scampton about the change. In his letter, shared with the BBC, he said: "Undoubtedly we are both more sensitive and more sensible today when it comes to the delicateness of racialist and derogatory terminology which had been used with unfortunate informality in the past. "I am, however, very fearful of our ability today to erase or re-write history. The past needs to be explained, taught about, and learned from - not re-written."
Bristol bills artist Marc Quinn for unwanted Black Lives Matter statue Will Humphries, Southwest Correspondent Friday July 17 2020, 12.01am BST, The Times Will Humphries, Southwest Correspondent Friday July 17 2020, 12.01am BST, The Times The city of Bristol is billing the artist Marc Quinn after removing his statue of a Black Lives Matter protester from the plinth where the effigy of the slave trader Edward Colston once stood. The resin and steel statue of a black woman named Jen Reid making a black power salute was installed without permission early on Wednesday by Quinn, who rose to prominence as one of the Young British Artists in the 1990s and is based in London. Sponsored please log in to view this image Overcoming the phenomenon of 'lockdown hair' By UK Government please log in to view this image Could this be the cure to your summer sports craving? By IBM Marvin Rees, the mayor of Bristol, ordered council staff to remove the figure yesterday morning. He said that the decision about what to do with the plinth was for the people of Bristol and would be made after the city had re-evaluated its history. The
