Hypocrites
- Thread starter Really_here
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Mr Kobayashi
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A ridiculous amount to spend on folders.
But this is a non-story. I suspect what is actually the case is that the contract they have with Barrow Hepburn & Gale is an exclusive contract. BHG are the supplier of the ministerial boxes which are according to their own website the only boxes that meet standards for holding classified documents.
That is technically the case but can't technologically be the case for a briefcase carrying paper documents.
They don't have prices listed on their website, it's a bespoke service in a niche industry.
It's unlikely to be the ministers insisting that they need the expensive folders, it's what looks like a commercial decision to keep alive a company that is worth a few hundred thousand pounds but which has a long history of supplying the boxes, and would instantly implode if the government business dried up.
But this is a non-story. I suspect what is actually the case is that the contract they have with Barrow Hepburn & Gale is an exclusive contract. BHG are the supplier of the ministerial boxes which are according to their own website the only boxes that meet standards for holding classified documents.
That is technically the case but can't technologically be the case for a briefcase carrying paper documents.
They don't have prices listed on their website, it's a bespoke service in a niche industry.
It's unlikely to be the ministers insisting that they need the expensive folders, it's what looks like a commercial decision to keep alive a company that is worth a few hundred thousand pounds but which has a long history of supplying the boxes, and would instantly implode if the government business dried up.
Really_here
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So it doesn't bother you at all then?
Each to their own.
Really_here
Well-Known Member
A bit like keeping the mines open in the 80's then. If everyone is being tasked to examine every pound spent then the ministers should be getting the £30 ones and the government should come clean about propping up a company that can't survive without government support.
Mr Kobayashi
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That's a fair criticism. But coal is a commodity. No one ever cared where it came from.
The £30 folders isn't actually a like for like comparison. They are souvenirs for tourists and look to be the same quality of something that you usually pay about half as much for.
The luxury folders will last a lot longer. Not enough to be worth £600 each but the true comparison is a similar quality product sold to consumers, without or with the cost of sticking the gold embossment on it.
The red boxes the company supplies cost less than you as a member of the public would be able to buy one for from rival companies. £4000 from a company that no longer supplies them and £8000 from the alternative supplier.
As outgoing ministers are likely to pay to retain their boxes and pay for the cost of a new one, it doesn't seem to be a bad price to pay to keep the tradition alive.
Tories pay £2,000 to cling on to ministerial red boxes
The souvenirs have become collector’s items, with Margaret Thatcher’s selling for £242,500 at auction
www.ft.com
Although, I personally don't have much time for all the antiquated traditions of the Palace of Westminster and Whitehall. But that's a topic for another thread.
Eccles Blue
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Of course the previous Government used the £30 ones of course!!
It’s amazing isn’t it that this was never discussed under their regime. Oh no let’s heap everything on a Government who’ve been in power for 2 minutes.
It’s amazing isn’t it that this was never discussed under their regime. Oh no let’s heap everything on a Government who’ve been in power for 2 minutes.
stonerblue
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Miserablist
LWashington
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and a bit of an oath.
urban genie
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I am,sure we have a sub forum for this type of stuff created to keep it out of off topic with a thread called the labour government in it
mexico1970
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I had a chat with someone today who genuinely believes that China never invaded anyone and that Russia was invited to turn Eastern Europe into a commie hell.
All the while clinging on to the bitcoin bandwagon and the belief that America are the most evil country ever only seconded by Israel, it really is/was like bingo.
When faced with stupidity of this magnitude Yahoo news is like reading how Einstein was a pretty clever chap.
All the while clinging on to the bitcoin bandwagon and the belief that America are the most evil country ever only seconded by Israel, it really is/was like bingo.
When faced with stupidity of this magnitude Yahoo news is like reading how Einstein was a pretty clever chap.