Mayor of London borrows policies from the great Chairman

[mrswdk]

The Mayor of London draws direct inspiration from Chairman Mao's policies of open and honest debate to inform his approach towards the way he runs his offices!

All hail the golden age of Sino-UK relations! ^0^

Boris Johnson insists no one has been gagged as he reverses EU referendum email ordering his staff not to contradict him

Boris Johnson has overturned an order gagging senior City Hall officials from speaking out in favour of Britain remaining in the EU.

The pro-Brexit London Mayor insisted that he had only learnt on Monday evening of the instruction sent out by his chief of staff Sir Edward Lister, and said he immediately withdrew it, describing it as a "cock-up".

Quoting former Chinese leader Chairman Mao, he added: "Let a hundred flowers bloom, folks. OK?"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... t-him.html

[waauw]

He's pro-Brexit. I don't expect any better of him.

[Symmetry]

He's pro-Brexit. I don't expect any better of him.

I think the main point was that it wasn't him who asked for the gag, and it wasn't really a gag in the first place. Just a thing where a bunch of people working for the mayor are basically supposed to be politically neutral- civil servants essentially.

It's kind of a way to avoid a politicised bureaucracy.

[riskllama]

this thread is kind of a way for mrs to troll, as well.

[waauw]

this thread is kind of a way for mrs to troll, as well.

You've got mrswdk all figured out haven't you?

[Symmetry]

this thread is kind of a way for mrs to troll, as well.

You've got mrswdk all figured out haven't you?

Does that mean you're his Mr. Smithers? I really don't know, but it's almost as if I have some kind of radar for these kind of relationships.

[riskllama]

i would happily let waauw be Smithers to my Burns any day of the week.
"waauw, release the hounds"

[mrswdk]

He's pro-Brexit. I don't expect any better of him.

I think the main point was that it wasn't him who asked for the gag, and it wasn't really a gag in the first place. Just a thing where a bunch of people working for the mayor are basically supposed to be politically neutral- civil servants essentially.

It's kind of a way to avoid a politicised bureaucracy.

The bureaucracy is supposed to support government policy.

[Keefie]

Well let's all hope that Boris doesn't adopt the 'Great Leap Forward' the 'Cultural revolution' or suppress counter revolutionaries. The UK population will drop to about 15 million if he does.

[mrswdk]

Well let's all hope that Boris doesn't adopt the 'Great Leap Forward' the 'Cultural revolution' or suppress counter revolutionaries. The UK population will drop to about 15 million if he does.

The Great Leap Forward was an attempt to stimulate rapid industrialization and rural collectivization in China. Nothing to do with ideological conflict.

[Keefie]

Well let's all hope that Boris doesn't adopt the 'Great Leap Forward' the 'Cultural revolution' or suppress counter revolutionaries. The UK population will drop to about 15 million if he does.

The Great Leap Forward was an attempt to stimulate rapid industrialization and rural collectivization in China. Nothing to do with ideological conflict.

Which resulted in about 45 million dead.

[mrswdk]

Well let's all hope that Boris doesn't adopt the 'Great Leap Forward' the 'Cultural revolution' or suppress counter revolutionaries. The UK population will drop to about 15 million if he does.

The Great Leap Forward was an attempt to stimulate rapid industrialization and rural collectivization in China. Nothing to do with ideological conflict.

Which resulted in about 45 million dead.

A generous estimate of the death toll caused by something which is completely unrelated to this thread. This thread is about Boris Johnson's admiration of Mao's Hundred Flowers Campaign.

In 1956 Mao encouraged Chinese citizens to express their own views on government policy and ways in which national objectives could be achieved. However, this opportunity was hijacked by a small minority of academics and others who decided to use it as an opportunity to decry the existence of the Communist Party in general, behavior which undermined national order and stability. Therefore, following the campaign a small number of people were disciplined for their unscrupulous actions. It's sad that such measures had to be taken, but sometimes you give people a chance and they let you down.

It is no different to the head of the British Chambers of Commerce being suspended from his post after supporting Brexit, in violation of the Chambers' policy of neutrality.

[riskllama]

by "disciplined", i assume you mean tortured and/or killed?

[waauw]

this thread is kind of a way for mrs to troll, as well.

You've got mrswdk all figured out haven't you?

Does that mean you're his Mr. Smithers? I really don't know, but it's almost as if I have some kind of radar for these kind of relationships.

You caught me bro.

[mrswdk]

by "disciplined", i assume you mean tortured and/or killed?

Sent down to rural areas to undertake labor for some period of time.

[riskllama]

, gotcha. so, basically, a working vacation type-deal. sounds pretty sweet...

[Keefie]

I was making the point that adopting the policies of Mao is generally bad for a general populations life expectancy.

[mrswdk]

I was making the point that adopting the policies of Mao is generally bad for a general populations life expectancy.

The Hundred Flowers Campaign, which Mayor Johnson expressed his support for, didn't cause deaths.

[Keefie]

I was making the point that adopting the policies of Mao is generally bad for a general populations life expectancy.

The Hundred Flowers Campaign, which Mayor Johnson expressed his support for, didn't cause deaths.

but the ideological crackdown that followed did.

ps: Why do you have a avatar of the lead singer from Boney M ?

[mrswdk]

Everything causes death. A high birth rate causes a higher death rate in later years.

And my avatar is Will Smith in Men in Black - duh!

[tkr4lf]

Cocked up.... lol

[rishaed]

The Mayor of London draws direct inspiration from Chairman Mao's policies of open and honest debate to inform his approach towards the way he runs his offices!

All hail the golden age of Sino-UK relations! ^0^

Boris Johnson insists no one has been gagged as he reverses EU referendum email ordering his staff not to contradict him

Boris Johnson has overturned an order gagging senior City Hall officials from speaking out in favour of Britain remaining in the EU.

The pro-Brexit London Mayor insisted that he had only learnt on Monday evening of the instruction sent out by his chief of staff Sir Edward Lister, and said he immediately withdrew it, describing it as a "cock-up".

Quoting former Chinese leader Chairman Mao, he added: "Let a hundred flowers bloom, folks. OK?"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... t-him.html

Will he Chop the head off of the blooming flowers if he doesn't like how they smell like Mao?

[Dukasaur]

The Mayor of London draws direct inspiration from Chairman Mao's policies of open and honest debate to inform his approach towards the way he runs his offices!

All hail the golden age of Sino-UK relations! ^0^

Boris Johnson insists no one has been gagged as he reverses EU referendum email ordering his staff not to contradict him

Boris Johnson has overturned an order gagging senior City Hall officials from speaking out in favour of Britain remaining in the EU.

The pro-Brexit London Mayor insisted that he had only learnt on Monday evening of the instruction sent out by his chief of staff Sir Edward Lister, and said he immediately withdrew it, describing it as a "cock-up".

Quoting former Chinese leader Chairman Mao, he added: "Let a hundred flowers bloom, folks. OK?"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... t-him.html

Will he Chop the head off of the blooming flowers if he doesn't like how they smell like Mao?

Say it aint so!

[Symmetry]

He's pro-Brexit. I don't expect any better of him.

I think the main point was that it wasn't him who asked for the gag, and it wasn't really a gag in the first place. Just a thing where a bunch of people working for the mayor are basically supposed to be politically neutral- civil servants essentially.

It's kind of a way to avoid a politicised bureaucracy.

The bureaucracy is supposed to support government policy.

And in this case there is no set policy, as there's a referendum upcoming. The cabinet is split, as gov't policy is basically that it should be a matter of conscience. If you see the problem there, you see the problem above.

Civil servants have to be neutral. But saying anything can be construed as taking a side when there's no set policy.

[mrswdk]

He's pro-Brexit. I don't expect any better of him.

I think the main point was that it wasn't him who asked for the gag, and it wasn't really a gag in the first place. Just a thing where a bunch of people working for the mayor are basically supposed to be politically neutral- civil servants essentially.

It's kind of a way to avoid a politicised bureaucracy.

The bureaucracy is supposed to support government policy.

And in this case there is no set policy, as there's a referendum upcoming. The cabinet is split, as gov't policy is basically that it should be a matter of conscience. If you see the problem there, you see the problem above.

The government's official position is that the UK should remain inside the EU, but Cabinet ministers have been permitted to campaign to leave if they want to.

Civil servants have to be neutral.

The civil service's duty is to support government policy. That's why some senior civil servant was recently telling people not to let Ian Duncan-Smith and co. see various documents relating to negotiations with the EU - because IDS wants to use that info to campaign against government policy, and so as civil servants it's part of their job to not support him in doing that.