She subsequently apologised for her timing of her resignation, saying it was “stupid, thoughtless and cruel”, then survived a vote of no confidence by her local party in Salford.
On May 13, Miss Greenwood wrote anonymously on the internet of Miss Blears: “How dare you wave a cheque about on national TV, saying that you are sorry.
“You are only sorry that you have been caught. You are a disgrace (including all the other honourable members). Why haven’t you been sacked?”
The administrator, who had worked for the DCFS for seven months, was brought before a disciplinary panel and fired on May 22.
“A written warning I could understand, but I was shocked to be sacked,” she said.
“It has been extremely upsetting that I have been sacked for having an opinion.
“When the expenses scandal broke we had all been discussing it at work, despite the civil service code.
“It was just the same in writing that everyone else had been saying at work and discussing openly in the office.”
A DCFS spokesman has said,
“The civil service has a clear code of conduct for its employees, which states that civil servants should be politically impartial and not act in a way that could damage the reputation of their department.”
Considering the fact that the post was made anonymously on a website outside of government and the language was in no way derogatory to Miss Blears. I cannot understand why this lady has been sacked unless their are underlying factors. I know from working at the Home Office that an internal blog is run for staff to vent their complaints for the Permamanent Secretary to read and then publish if they are deemed appropriate, whether said arrangement is in existence at DCFS I am unsure.
What concerns me most is the fact that this civil servant’s email was intercepted so fast and reported to the ‘authorities’ enabling her to be identified and then dismissed within a matter of weeks. Whether this is the police, the security services or the cabinet office is this the best use of their resources?
