Boris Johnson threatens to ‘privatise the a**e off’ Swansea’s DVLA in Cabinet meeting
Jonathan Brady PA Images. DVLA Swansea image by Sarah Morgan Jones.
Boris Johnson has threatened to “privatise the arse off” the DVLA and other public bodies unless they start delivering better services, according to government sources.
The threat comes after Minister for Government Efficiency Jacob Rees-Mogg said that the DVLA could be shut down in comments reported over the weekend.
The DVLA is one of the largest employers in Wales, with over 5,000 staff in Swansea.
In comments leaked to the Evening Standard, the Prime Minister asked the Cabinet to provide examples of ways the cost of living crisis could be alleviated, before promising to tackle the “post-Covid mañana culture” at some public bodies.
Another body singled out for criticism was the Passport Office which has been hit with an unprecedented surge in applications as many families plan to take their first summer holiday since the pandemic this year.
One Whitehall source told the Telegraph newspaper over the weekend that there had been a “total failure” by the DVLA “to provide the public service it is meant to”.
Last week, Jacob Rees-Mogg told Bristol Live he was “still constantly writing to the DVLA on behalf of my constituents to get them driving licenses, and we know that the DVLA was simply not working properly with people working from home. That’s very unfair on my constituents.”
Jacob Rees-Mogg has embarked on a drive to end the work from home culture in the Civil Service.
The Public and Commercial Services Union meanwhile have been critical throughout the pandemic of the DVLA’s insistence that staff are unable to work remotely. Last year members staged 58 days of strikes in response to what they called “unsafe” working conditions.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
If this happens, then be prepared to have your details, both drivers and medical, sold off to anyone who wants it.
So rather than identifying the reasons for the public service failings, ie government initiated staff cut backs, and putting things right Boris once again takes the easy option of passing the buck to someone else. When public services are adequately funded and supported by the government they are infinitely better than being run for the benefit of the shareholders under private ownership.
Many of them are adequately funded, far better than after a few years of privatisation I can assure you. The weaknesses are often in top management, politically approved appointments of people who lack the skills to manage change and deliver performance on a sustained basis. The serial failures of sundry government departments and agencies to implement modern I.T without causing crashes in systems, loss or leaks of data proves that very few of the so called leaders can tell their arses from holes in the ground ! Again all problems linked to the Establishment way of doing, or not doing,… Read more »
When the issue is one concerning the handling of sensitive data then it is difficult to work from home and safeguard the said data.
If you were asked to work in an enclosed environment when people were dropping like flies, transmitting the virus, would you not request that your working environment was safeguarded?… and if it wasn’t, wouldn’t you refuse to attend the office?
If not you’re either very brave or a total fool!
Don’t worry even a wet fish like Starmer could beat Johnson when an election comes.
Making what difference to Cymru, though?
How reading this articles title has made my blood boil! How can we as a nation be happy to be ruled over by such things?
If ‘Party Boy’ and his simmering minion Grant Shapps had made working conditions at the DVLA comply with the covid rules which they themselves brought into law then maybe staff could have turned up and worked in safety, but they didn’t.
I believe that even the woman in charge of the agency only turned up occasionally.
Privatisation means that the company is beholden to its shareholders, not the public.
The desire for profits often means cutbacks in other areas, e.g. maintenance.
Tory Privatisation Process:-
What is it with the Tories and threats? If it’s not threatening to privatise the Passport Office, it’s intimidating workers at the DVLA in Swansea. The Conservatives are unhinged! 🥴🇬🇧
I’ve got an unhinged gate that’s more use than Boris !
Surely the Nationalists would be glad of this? A hated UK Government arm, once privatised, leaving Wales?
Are you suggesting that you are NOT an ultra Nationalist? One that has a hatred of Wales…
It’s dead cat distraction tactics again!
i wish somebody would denationalise johnson and his flaming tories. Withdraw their funding & make them pay for all their mistakes that cost us so dearly.
That will never happen until the parties of habitual opposition make an electoral pact to defeat the tories and set up a fair voting system for westminster.