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NON-ROYAL NORMAL ISLAND KLAXON



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Commas are serious business


 

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New health secretary Therese Coffey has come under fire after her office issued guidance telling workers to “be positive” and avoid using policy wonk “jargon”.


An email, understood to have been sent to staff at the Department of Health and Social Care and sent on to workers at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), is reported to have told them to avoid using “Oxford commas” – the final comma used in a list of things.


The Financial Times (FT), which first reported the story, said the document was titled “New secretary of state ways of working preferences”.


It asked employees to “be precise” and “be positive — if we have done something good, let us say so and avoid double negatives”, the newspaper said.


One UKHSA employee told the FT that the email was “super patronising” and added: “The idea that we have to frame issues positively indicates a person who doesn’t want to deal with problems, so that’s not encouraging.”


Ms Coffey also came under fire for the email on Twitter from NHS staff and patients.


In the past, she has shared her hatred of the Oxford comma on Twitter, describing it in 2015 as one of her “pet hates”.


“I abhor the Oxford comma and refuse to use it,” the MP wrote.


She said she was “delighted” to learn that the Oxford University Press was reducing its use in 2011, adding: “I cannot bear it and constantly remove it. Rant over.”


According to government sources, it is not unusual for ministerial teams to set out ways of working for staff when new ministers are appointed.


They said the Government has “set out a broad guide for staff to help provide an efficient service to the public and deliver better outcomes to patients”.


The FT reported that UKHSA workers were feeling “demoralised” after the Government earlier this year made substantial job cuts to fixed-term staff who were involved in outbreak control during the Covid pandemic.


Some permanent staff have been offered a 2.5% pay increase to help manage the rising cost of living.


“We are actually getting a salary cut,” one employee with knowledge of the plans told the FT.


A UKHSA spokesman said: “UKHSA does not comment on leaked emails or briefings.


“We value enormously all of our hard-working colleagues who work tirelessly to make our nation’s health secure.”

 

Edited by GNU_Linux
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3 hours ago, djchapsticks said:

I now await the emergence of a rouge unofficial Queue designed to rejoin The Queue when it reopens.

The unofficial Queue will shuffle behind the end of the ever shrinking Queue at a respectful distance of 40 yards. When anyone in The Queue turns around to look at those in the rogue Queue, the members of the unofficial Queue will be seen kicking their heels and staring at the sky nonchalantly whistling like in the old cartoons.

When The Queue reopens though, all bets will be off.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/16/queen-mourners-queue-southwark-park-capacity-reached-london

"Those wanting to see the Queen were told not to attempt to join it until 4pm on Friday at the earliest.

The decision raised the prospect of people forming a queue to join the queue."

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Catafalqueue.

Edited by Florentine_Pogen
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2 minutes ago, Florentine_Pogen said:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/16/queen-mourners-queue-southwark-park-capacity-reached-london

"Those wanting to see the Queen were told not to attempt to join it until 4pm on Friday at the earliest.

The decision raised the prospect of people forming a queue to join the queue."

Those responsible for the sacking, have been sacked.

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1 hour ago, John MacLean said:

Could you imagine being stuck in a queue for 14 hours next to that?

Rants against wee nippy and comments about bheasts. 

Trying to gee up the crowd with a rendition of Simply the Best in honour of her majesty.

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