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> Why didn't Ofqual find some people who understood how stats work, and and ask them for advice? Because, fundamentally, the current UK government is not inter

> Why didn't Ofqual find some people who understood how stats work, and and ask them for advice? Because, fundamentally, the current UK government is not interested in scientific evidence or taking advice from experts in an area (c.f. Michael Gove's famous line "people of this country have had enough of experts")

throwaway45349 6y ago
At least include the full quote, which is far more reasonable in-context: "I think the people of this country have had enough of experts with organisations with acronyms saying that they know what is best and getting it consistently wrong."
- halostatue 6y ago
  Wouldn’t that apply to the Tories, though? They _consistently_ get it wrong after saying they know best.
  - Smaug123 6y ago
    But they don't profess to be experts.
    - mhh__ 6y ago
      Hence Dominic Cummings?
      - Smaug123 6y ago
        Cummings explicitly claims not to be an expert, and decries the fact that he can't seem to find anyone competent at the higher levels of the civil service anywhere.
- NLips 6y ago
  Not really - the second half is just rhetoric to add flavour. He wasn't saying "People have had enough of the subset of experts who are always wrong", not least because obviously an "expert" who is always wrong is unwanted.
- teamonkey 6y ago
  And the full context: he was referring to accusations that the government were ignoring the advice of economists and trade experts on the subject of Brexit. The accusations were that this was because the advice didn't fit in with the UK government's stance on the matter. He was using the example - nearly ten years on - of how "experts" didn't predict the 2008 crash. At best, a straw man argument (which experts; were any expert advisors aware and did they endorse the extreme lending that affected the UK, etc.)
hardlianotion 6y ago
Probably best to contextualise that particular quote. Your use of it here is misleading. The government is on record as wanting precisely more technically qualified people to enter the civil service, and restructuring the service toward this end. Whether or not the way they intend to go about it is sensible or reasonable is another topic for debate.

throwaway45349 6y ago

At least include the full quote, which is far more reasonable in-context: "I think the people of this country have had enough of experts with organisations with acronyms saying that they know what is best and getting it consistently wrong."

halostatue 6y ago
Wouldn’t that apply to the Tories, though? They _consistently_ get it wrong after saying they know best.
- Smaug123 6y ago
  But they don't profess to be experts.
  - mhh__ 6y ago
    Hence Dominic Cummings?
    - Smaug123 6y ago
      Cummings explicitly claims not to be an expert, and decries the fact that he can't seem to find anyone competent at the higher levels of the civil service anywhere.
NLips 6y ago
Not really - the second half is just rhetoric to add flavour. He wasn't saying "People have had enough of the subset of experts who are always wrong", not least because obviously an "expert" who is always wrong is unwanted.
teamonkey 6y ago
And the full context: he was referring to accusations that the government were ignoring the advice of economists and trade experts on the subject of Brexit. The accusations were that this was because the advice didn't fit in with the UK government's stance on the matter. He was using the example - nearly ten years on - of how "experts" didn't predict the 2008 crash. At best, a straw man argument (which experts; were any expert advisors aware and did they endorse the extreme lending that affected the UK, etc.)

hardlianotion 6y ago

Probably best to contextualise that particular quote. Your use of it here is misleading. The government is on record as wanting precisely more technically qualified people to enter the civil service, and restructuring the service toward this end. Whether or not the way they intend to go about it is sensible or reasonable is another topic for debate.