7 #PoliticalTactics used in responses to NAO investigation into English government procurement during COVID-19

The 7 #PoliticalTactics are: 1) Answer the question you wanted to be asked rather than the question you were asked; 2) Welcome a report and its recommendations (Notice this isn't the same as agreeing with the report); 3) Don't agree that what happened was sub-standard; 4) Don't agree you should have known it was sub-standard; 5) Don't agree to any action plan to make sure this doesn't happen in future; 6) Don't agree that individuals may have financially benefitted themselves or friends through such sub-standard actions and finally 7) from the you tube clip above - Claim you are feeling an emotion directly opposite to what you should be feeling.  So if you should be ashamed say you are proud, if you should be unsure say you are confident and so on, sad/happy, depressed/jubilant, anger/calm 

On Radio 4's today programme on 18/11/20 they reported about how the government's spending watchdog ( The National Audi Office - [NAO]  )

1) Ministers set aside normal standards of tranparency as they scrambled to secure PPE at the start of COVID-19

2) £18 billion worth of contracts were awarded under emergency rules that bypassed the normal  competitive tendering process

3) Firms recommended by MPs, ministers offices or Health Chiefs were given priority and fast tracked

4) NAO said even in an emergency, it remained essential to public trust, for the government to document why it had chosen a supplier and how it had managed any particular conflicts of interest - yet in a sample of 20 cases it found repeated failure to do so.

5) In one of the cases - Public First - a focus group organiser - whose owners had previously worked for Cabinet Office Minsiter Michael Gove and alongside Dominic Cummings - Boris Johnson's then top advisor - yet the Cabinet Office failed to document any consideration of any potential conflict of interest"

The response of one of the companies so hired  - Public First - was that "It was hired on a pay as you go arrangement that meant it could be fired if it didn't perform well"  A classic example of the #PoliticalTrick of  - Answer the question you wanted to be asked rather than the question you were asked.  So in this case I'll bet they weren't asked "What happens if you don't perform well?" and were actually asked something like "Why was your company chosen for this contract?" 

The Cabinet Office response was that "It welcomed the NAOs scrutiny and its recommendations for improvement, but declined to comment on the case of Public First".  A great example of some #PoliticalTricks when dealing with a report or review that says what you've done or allowed to happen is sub-standard.  So:

- welcome a report and its recommendations (Notice this isn't the same as agreeing with the report)

- don't agree that what happened was sub-standard

- don't agree you should have known it was sub-standard

- don't agree to any action plan to make sure this doesn't happen in future

- don't agree that individuals may have financially benefitted themselves or friends through such sub-standard actions 

Previous posts on #PoliticalTactics

30 Oct 2020 Corbyns response to EHRC's antisemitism report - The 5 #PoliticalTactics are: 1) I'm the victim here; 2) It's somebody else's fault; 3) I don't accept all the points, 4) There is a conspiracy against me; 5) Simply ignore the most damaging points.