got an email today, informing me that the whole MLX-364 process has been delayed because of the UK general election. Apparently such a consultation process cannot proceed during a general election, because it is an activity governed by the Cabinet Office Election Guidelines.
So they would have us believe that this election is an unforeseen obstacle?
Hmm, that's funny - a quick google tells me that the latest possible date for the prorogation of Parliament (the announcing of a general election, and the automatic implementation of these long-established Cabinet Office guidelines,) would have been May 10th - also within the period of this process.
So this delay has been predictable not only since the MHRA consultation exercise MLX-364 began back in February of this year. No - it's been constitutionally inevitable for nearly 5 years now! Since May 10th 2005 in fact. Any such process that began before a subsequent election and was scheduled to have overrun that date would have had to be automatically suspended for the duration of the election as a matter of course. But of course, no, they weren't expecting any delays.
And with less than a week's notice, the NCP stakeholder meeting scheduled for 22nd April has been cancelled, to be rescheduled at some as yet unspecified date sometime after the election, and the consultation exercise itself extended to June 2nd. And everyone who's made plans to attend, booked the time out, and paid for hotels, flights, rail tickets, all the other associated costs and activity, are left inconvenienced and out of pocket.
I can't make up my mind whether it's a ruse to just be a complete PITA to those attending the meeting (purely for the sake of it because they're a bunch of wombats, or maybe in the hope of reducing the number of attendees? The cynic in me says I wouldn't put it past them!) or simply blatant dumbness. Either way, it strikes me as utterly typical of these wretched people.
And so the saga drags on
So they would have us believe that this election is an unforeseen obstacle?
Hmm, that's funny - a quick google tells me that the latest possible date for the prorogation of Parliament (the announcing of a general election, and the automatic implementation of these long-established Cabinet Office guidelines,) would have been May 10th - also within the period of this process.
So this delay has been predictable not only since the MHRA consultation exercise MLX-364 began back in February of this year. No - it's been constitutionally inevitable for nearly 5 years now! Since May 10th 2005 in fact. Any such process that began before a subsequent election and was scheduled to have overrun that date would have had to be automatically suspended for the duration of the election as a matter of course. But of course, no, they weren't expecting any delays.
And with less than a week's notice, the NCP stakeholder meeting scheduled for 22nd April has been cancelled, to be rescheduled at some as yet unspecified date sometime after the election, and the consultation exercise itself extended to June 2nd. And everyone who's made plans to attend, booked the time out, and paid for hotels, flights, rail tickets, all the other associated costs and activity, are left inconvenienced and out of pocket.
I can't make up my mind whether it's a ruse to just be a complete PITA to those attending the meeting (purely for the sake of it because they're a bunch of wombats, or maybe in the hope of reducing the number of attendees? The cynic in me says I wouldn't put it past them!) or simply blatant dumbness. Either way, it strikes me as utterly typical of these wretched people.
And so the saga drags on
