The Former Treasury chief secretary's message to his successor

Aspiring_Writer

No worries, getting lost in anything other than politics is an admirable trait...

nembot

Pretty much says in not so many words, that we're screwed.

Although I wasn't a fan of the Tories, think they're the dose of reality we really needed.

Wookster

Cleaver wrote: »

As Exocet pointed out though, this isn't the whole party laughing about the mess they've behind, it's just one man's small joke to another, and it's no big deal. If I were the guy moving in to the office I would have had a bit of a chuckle, framed it for the wall and then carried on with my life.

The reason why its such a tasteless comment is because it is stunningly true.

SailorSam

If i was the new man coming in and i'd found something like that in my desk i'd have just laughed and thrown it in the bin.

vivatifosi

Maybe he had to leave the note because someone had already beaten him to stealing all the 0 keys.

Cleaver

dealsearcher wrote: »

Oh isn't it just hilarious? To make a joke out of what we all now have to suffer for years to come! Oh yes I am splitting my sides! :rotfl:

Let's say you were a miner and you and 6 friends were trapped underground after collapse. You know there's no hope of rescue and you'll never see your friends and family again. You've probably got four or five days to live. What do you do? Well, if you're British then you'll probably make light of the situation, rip the p*ss out of one another and generally make sarcastic comments. It's what people do in dire situations, especially the Brits.

If you sat down with Liam Byrne and had a chat with him I doubt he would sit there making constant wise-cracks about the state of the country and how we'll all going to suffer. This was a specific joke in a certain circumstance, not a comment on how he feels generally.

Do you never say humourous or innapropriate things, especially at work, that are funny and non-offensive as they are used in a certain context, but if they were written down and put in front of your boss completely out of context would look pretty terrible? That's pretty much all office and workplace banter. With the example we're discussing, if you've someone who's just been made redundnat then I'm sure it's not very funny. But then the joke was never meant to be shared with them, was it?

kennyboy66_2

nickmason wrote: »

Doesn't this lend strength to the argument that - Mandelson and Adonis excluded - the Labour party wanted out of government, and therefore completely failed to engage with the Liberal Democrats in coalition talks?

I honestly find it difficult to comprehend how any party can think it's a "good time to get out" without hanging its head in absolute shame, and recognising that they've failed. Every party must think it's the best for the country - they keep talking about "national interest" - surely in dire troubles, they should - as they said in the election - try even harder to keep control. To refuse to take on the burden; and then to laugh about the mess they've left behind; is disgusting.

and who said Tories (and Lib Dems!) had no sense of humour.

You of all people must know there is a history of leaving notes to your successor, some helpful, some not so. All a bit school boyish, but a worse crime in my book is rushing off to headmaster (the press in this case) to make a big deal about it.

mbga9pgf

Well, I can see the point about the black humour, except for the fact the minister was part of the problem. Others may not see it, but I think it reads along the lines of "we spent all the money, now go F*ck yourselves".

Its almost like saying "I raped your daughter, I enjoyed it, now live with the consequences".

Cleaver

Wookster wrote: »

The reason why its such a tasteless comment is because it is stunningly true.

Well of course there's truth in it. If it wasn't true then the gag wouldn't be funny, would it?

Humour works best in dark or dire situations. That's just the way it is. I remember sitting quietly with my Mum the day before she died. She hadn't spoken for a couple of hours as she was pretty weak and I was just sitting next to her, holding her hand, mopping her brow and generally checking she was as comfortable as she could be. A pretty bleak scene and hard to see any humour whatsoever.

After all this silence, she had a brief moment of lucidity and beckoned me in to whisper in my ear. And she said:

"I don't believe in ghosts, but I guess I'll find out soon enough. Look, if I do turn in to a ghost I'm not going to do anything that could be seen as something else, like a plate suddenly smashing, or a picture falling on the floor. I'll do something really obvious, like write you a note, or just appear in front of you and say hello. I'm not going to be a pretentious, mysterious ghost. It's not my style."

I laughed and she laughed, before falling back asleep. And then the family laughed when I told them. And it was pretty much the last conversation I had with her. As I say, the funniest humour is normally tasteless, innapropriate, unexpected and sounds dreadful out of context.

JP45

lostinrates wrote: »

I didn't realise there was precedent to this. In which case its even funnier (and if I understood from my dad correctly) the last note leaver was a conservative.

If someone explains the precedent above I will admit to being rude for not reading properly as well as ignorant of the history of this.

I imagine your dad was referring to the following note that Reggie Maudling left for Jim Callaghan (when he became Labour Chancellor in 1964):

“Sorry to leave it in such a mess, old c*ck”

Callaghan apparently thought he was referring to the state of the office – until he looked at the books.