The Met Office is caught out in a lie. Why is it that lying is the dominant ethos of public service these days?

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Because the downside for being caught out is nada, nowt,.......<splutter>
They are sheltered from their incompetence by government.

Because it works, and there is not enough downside when they are caught. The risk/reward ratio is pretty clear.
And if we want to change this state of affairs, they need to be caught more often, and punished much harder when they are caught. When the risk/reward ratio changes far enough, then behaviour will change.

Heh, snap...

Why is it that lying is the dominant ethos of public service these days?


The bigger the lie the bigger the salary.

It's like Bruce Forsyth's game show, in stead of points make prizes, it's now lies make money.

So they can have the opportunity to say: There are lessons to be learnt.

To that it one step further, what would happen if they told the truth about the screw-ups and waste they oversee? They'd probably lose their jobs. So the reinforcement is all negative; lie and nothing happens, tell the truth and get hammered down hard.

Why dear lady, they don't lie, they merely present an image of the truth that takes into account all necessary considerations for the successful and smooth transfer of appropriate information towards and between the individual and government, taking into account the incidental need to be aware of the necessary consideration for interdepartmental and intragovernmental pursuit of much greater truths that may sometimes require a humble civil servant such as theirselves to regretfully present an image that, whilst still entirely an image of the truth as presented, is not necessarily the image of the truth that the public believes it should be presented yet which is, nevertheless, the image of the truth that they need to be given and that it behooves the public to understand that the full image of the truth as it is perceived as necessary to be presented at a suitable future juncture shall be so presented, taking in to account all possible outcomes, understanding the balance between need, desire and necessity, in the fullness of time.

... at which point Bernard usually says something silly and the audience laughs. Oh such joy.

Speaking of lying being the dominant ethos, this speech by the New Jersey Governor Chris Christie shows that there is an alternative: http://coalitionoftheswilling.net/?p=11921

Because of Judeo-Christian morality is not taught in schools. It is a quasi- or actual crime to teach the Ten Commandments. Not even 1 teacher out of 10 could tell you what the Ninth Commandment is. So people lie because no one taught them it is morally evil to do so.

Jan 2011 is heading to be nearly a record cold month even after all their cheating and adjustments to the data. http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/01/28/u ... ent-585403

I've just received the "secret report" and the email correspondence between the Met Office and Cabinet Office; it reveals quite a bit more than what we've learned already - you may all be interested in this:

The Revealed Mystery of the Mystic Met Office

"The Met Office is caught out in a lie. Why is it that lying is the dominant ethos of public service these days?"

Because that is the purpose of public service. It's what they do.

It's not?

Well how else can they keep Richard on his toes?