George Mudie: ...was an overlap. I have made the point, however, that it is accepted almost universally that the departments operate differently, and had different methods of working and a different ethos. That merger has harmed and been detrimental to HMRC. In retrospect, it turned out to have harmed a very proud and long-established department with great traditions. I think that is regrettable, and that...
George Mudie: ...apologised. It held its hands up and said, “Yes, these things are happening and we are sorry about them. We apologise.” I have said that this is not a party political thing. This was a merger under our Administration. Matters were made worse by the fact that a very powerful Chancellor wanted discipline and savings in other Departments. One thing he did was to provide an example through...
George Mudie: ...taxpayers receiving an unexpected and largely unwelcome envelope. I grant that some might have been welcome, but they were mostly unwelcome. The 30,000 jobs are gone, but I have yet to mention the merger. It was particularly important for staff morale, because at the same time this brilliant Department—I suppose it was the Treasury—brought in McKinsey to do its thinking, and it ended...
George Mudie: ...a long period of uncertainty and trauma for many of the people in the factories. The announcement means that 43 factories will close. Some 32 of the closures are straightforward, whereas 11 involve mergers. Having read the PricewaterhouseCoopers report, I have the suspicion that more closures are to come, because the figures demonstrated that a number of factories—the number was in...