Rees Mogg And No Government Efficiency

Member for times long past Jacob Rees Mogg has let it be known that he wants to see more Civil Servants at their desks each weekday. His problem has been in how he accomplishes this task. What, then, would one expect a Government minister to do in solving this problem? What would an experienced businessman and politician, steeped in the ways of man-management, have done? What would Nietzsche have done?

The evidence so far is that The Moggster may not operate on such a level: it was revealed yesterday by Dino Sofos that he, or someone on his behalf, was leaving glorified post-it notes around Whitehall telling “Sorry you were out when I visited … I look forward to seeing you in the office very soon … With every good wish … Rt Hon Jacob Rees Mogg MP … Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency”.

Passive-aggressive, much? Not even the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his rabble at the Guido Fawkes blog were prepared to cheer that one on, or spin it. The comments showed why, with Chris Grey musing “The irony of this note is that it shows the Minister for Government Efficiency behaving exactly like the worst stereotype of a bureaucratic middle manager, flaunting his petty authority to enforce 'red tape' rules of office conduct”.

There was more. Significantly more. George Peretz QC added “Any thug can use formal and flowery language. Real gentlemen, with genuine good manners, don’t bully those who work for them”. OUCH! Sam Freedman had more. “Sometimes I think Jacob Rees-Mogg must be the worst cabinet minister in living memory. And then I remember Priti Patel is in the cabinet. And ‘Sir’ Gavin Williamson was”. Could it get worse? Don’t ask.

Henry Mance of the FT showed that it could: “nothing says government efficiency like a minister going desk-to-desk with a pile of printed notes”. Ahir Shah had a different angle: “Consistently ashamed that my ancestors were conquered by a ruling class this shit”. And Adam Bienkov wondered if Rees Mogg had thought it through properly: “This is a ballsy move for someone best known for literally lying down on the job”.

The Secret Barrister was dismissive. “A simpering affectatious halfwit born on a pile of money, who has been handed every privilege imaginable and boasts that he is too lazy to have ever changed his own children’s nappies, is possibly not best placed to pass judgement on how hard people are working”. James O’Brien, though, saw the bright side.

“At least one person in this story has far too much time on their hands. On the other hand, sneaking around leaving glorified post-it notes on strangers’ desks is probably the safest deployment of Rees-Mogg. He does serious & lasting damage when he’s allowed out of nursery mode”. While Tom Peck had other concerns. “Spare a thought, as ever, for those of us who are nominally meant to be parody these people”. Indeed.

But the worst was yet to come: Rees Mogg’s gesture was then revealed to have been to no avail by Jonathan Jones, who knows a little about what goes on in Whitehall nowadays. “But … almost no civil servants have fixed desks … so he won’t know who he was ‘visiting’, where they were, or who they are if he ‘sees them in the office’”.

The Minister for Government Efficiency demonstrating in the least efficient manner how to spray taxpayer funds up the wall to no discernible benefit. The Tories in a nutshell.

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