Tags
Alan Rusbridger, allegation, allege, Andy Coulson, BBC, benefit, benefits, campaign, Coalition, communications, Conservative, criminal, Culture, cut, Department, director, doorstep, drop, DWP, former, forthright, government, Iain Duncan Smith, ideological, ideology, incentive, John Shield, lawyer, Leveson, low, Marina Hyde, Mike Sivier, mikesivier, News UK, outspoken, pay, Pensions, people, politics, Reform, Richard Caseby, rip it up and start again, Roy Greenslade, Rupert Murdoch, social security, The Guardian, The Sun, The Sunday Times, Tories, Tory, transform, trial, unemployment, Universal Credit, Vox Political, wage, welfare, work
Meet the new boss: Richard Caseby – no connection with any ‘bad apples’ at News UK or the government. Let’s hope it stays that way.
The highly confrontational former managing editor of both The Sunday Times and The Sun has been named as the new director of communications at the Department for Work and Pensions.
Richard Caseby takes over after former comms boss John Shield was hired by the BBC last September.
Gosh, what an incestuous world we live in! The BBC, now confirmed as little more than a mouthpiece for the Conservative Party in its political news content, hires the former press officer for the Tory-run DWP. The DWP then hires an executive from Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, previous home of – oh, yes – former Number 10 press supremo Andy Coulson, currently on trial for criminal offences allegedly committed while he was employed by the same firm!
Murdoch, the government, the BBC – these people like to stick together, and they like to put their people in positions of influence.
There is no evidence – to my knowledge – that could link Mr Caseby to any criminal behaviour at News UK. It is to be hoped that any ‘bad apples’ who worked there did not manage to spoil the whole bunch. It would be wrong to consider him guilty of any wrongdoing merely by association with his previous employer.
And we should not automatically consider him to have been elevated to this position – in which, as a government employee, he should be impartial and not partisan – because he may be ideologically aligned with the Conservatives.
That being said, I shall certainly be watching this character like a hawk.
It seems he has gained a reputation for being “outspoken” and “forthright” – Roy Greenslade in The Guardian recounts an occasion when a columnist for that paper had mistakenly reported that The Sun had doorstepped a Leveson Inquiry lawyer, writing that such activities were equal to “casually defecating on his lordship’s desk while doing a thumbs-up sign”.
In response, Mr Caseby sent a toilet roll to Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger along with a note saying: “I hear Marina Hyde’s turd landed on your desk.”
Of his new roll – sorry, role – at the DWP, Mr Caseby said: “Welfare reform and the introduction of Universal Credit represent the biggest transformation programme in the UK. It is fundamentally about changing culture and behaviour to make sure there is always an incentive to work.
“This is a huge and inspiring communications challenge and I’m delighted to be joining the DWP team to help in the task.”
Clearly he is already getting the hang of the lingo: “tranformation”, “changing culture and behaviour”, and “always an incentive to work” are all DWP catchphrases – probably because they don’t mean anything.
A “transformation” programme can turn a good system into the substance he mentioned in his Guardian note.
“Changing culture and behaviour” does not mean improving standards of living – in fact the evidence shows the exact opposite.
And the idea that DWP cuts mean there is “always an incentive to work” has been disproved to the point of ridicule. Iain Duncan Smith’s changes have hit low-paid workers more than anybody else and wages have been dropping continuously since the Secretary-in-a-State slithered into the job back in 2010.
Universal Credit has been the subject of so many expensive write-offs and relaunches that a campaign was launched earlier this week, called ‘Rip It Up And Start Again’, seeking an end to the fiasco.
This is the arena into which Mr Caseby has stepped.
He’d better tread carefully.
If he puts just one foot wrong, he might just get his head bitten off.
Mike Sivier's blog 