In the light of the report regarding the bullying of Civil Servants by Priti Patel and the unwillingness of Boris Johnson to accept the report and indeed his apparent attempt to get it changed, it is understandable that many people are very disturbed by these aspects. Some of course are people who oppose the Conservative Party but I have seen a significant number of people who would not get involved in party based debates. One of these is a friend of mine Joel Edwards who spent a number of years as a Social Worker as well as some time running a significant organisation in the UK. His response is very significant and it is reproduced below. Clearly one way that some of us can express our frustration is via a Parliamentary approved e-petition. Given that the report only emerged on Friday it would take a few days to get a suitable petition set out that would enable us to sign up to. In the meantime two people have already written out petitions on the same theme although of course not focused on Priti Patel or Boris Johnson. Perhaps signing those petitions would be one way to improve matters in our nation. At present both of them have less than 200 signatures, so perhaps a bit of a response could give them the 10,000 signatures that would require the Government to grasp that people are unhappy about bullying.

So here is the piece from my friend Joel who wrote it on Friday at 9pm.

Thoughts on the PM’s ‘bulldog’ decision

There is little room in political life for apologies, repentance and forgiveness and we are all poorer for it. But the revelation that the Prime Minister has overturned Sir Alex Allen’s advice following allegations of bullying from the Home Secretary worries me even more.

I’m not interested in political bloodletting or vendettas against our hard-working senior servants. Do avoid using this post as an excuse for nasty comments! But I am wondering if both the PM and Home Sec realise the implications of the decision. It sends out a dishonouring message to those who complained about professional bullying at the highest level of government and to Sir Alex Allen who has a mountain of integrity stacked in his corner.

But the haggling and nuancing about intentional bullying is a devastating message to every child who has suffered bullying.

And what will this mean now to the victims of the #WindrushScandal who are struggling to believe that the Home Office truly understands the depth of the atrocity perpetrated by its culture of hostility? From henceforth, every member of the Home Office who reaches across a zoom room to assure a Windrush victim and her family that they are responding to #WendyWilliams’ #LessonLearned will have the shadow of this decision hovering over every promise being made.

This isn’t an angry protest. It’s more like a quiet plea for a rethink.

If this piece or indeed any other issues that have come through are inspiring you to consider signing a petition here are the two e-petitions that currently exist and would benefit from some extra support.

“Make workplace bullying illegal” is available here and the rest of the text is “Make workplace bullying illegal. It costs the UK economy £ billions every year and destroys society busiess and peoples lives in the process.” It was written by Peter Lawford and started off about two months ago at the start of October.

“Make bullying a criminal offence” was written by Molly Anne Clark and it was set out at the end of August. It is available here and it goes on to explain “We want bullying to be made a criminal offence. Bullying can cause significant harm and even lead to suicide. This need to be stopped, with significant sentences where bullying leads to a victim committing suicide. I lost my best friend as a result of bullying. People told me there was nothing that could have been done to change it, but if bullying was stopped it could have been avoided. The Government should make bullying a criminal offence, and impose significant sentences if bullying leads to a victim committing suicide, in order to tackle bullying and hold perpetrators accountable.”

Neither of these relate directly to the failure by the Government or perhaps more specifically by Boris Johnson to respond to the report that was announced on Friday. However both do focus on bullying which is clearly a serious issue for most people like my friend Joel Edwards.