Yday, MHCLG used taxpayers' money to write this. Funnily enough, it fails to mention that I put the story to them well in advance. Then received no reply. I chased them 24 hours later.
And curiously, their response to me was completely different to what was in their blog below.
And curiously, their response to me was completely different to what was in their blog below.
If the contents of the blog was always the government position it is curious that those points were not articulated in their response.
If they had been, I would have, of course, incorporated them in my reporting. That's why I, er, contacted the department in the first place.
If they had been, I would have, of course, incorporated them in my reporting. That's why I, er, contacted the department in the first place.
In the interests of transparency, I’m attaching my email to the Ministry and their (belated) response. You’ll see it is different in tone, substance and emphasis to the blog. In neither the comment or info do they demur from the initial crux of the story nor address it directly. 
I have pointed out to the department the writing of such material, in this context, can hardly be considered a proper use of civil service time or resource and almost certainly is in violation of the civil service code.
These sort of delegitimisation tactics are deeply unpleasant at the best of times but we certainly don’t need to pay for the privilege out of own taxes.
