Forum Topic

Whatever next?

Ministers pay £10,000 for acting lessons! Chancellor George Osborne and other Coalition Ministers splashed out £10,000 of taxpayers' money on acting lessons from Britain's premier drama school at the same time as overseeing deep public-spending cuts.They paid the world famous Royal Acadamy of Dramatic Art for actors and voice experts in a bid to boost the performance of civil servants in their departments.Rada offers 'role playing' with actors, voice-coaching and tips to boost 'confidence and gravitas'.Embarrassingly for Mr Osborne, details of the Treasury's own £3,000 drama bill emerged days after he warned of the need for fresh cuts. Treasury officials refused to give details on what the lesson involved.So next time they speak just remember it is all an act!

Jean F Fernandez ● 4461d6 Comments

Being able to communicate the message clearly and succinctly is completely independent to whether the are sincere and telling the truth - again though, I stand by the point that most people in senior roles will have access to some sort of presentation skills training - the public always complain they can't understand politics so this seems to me to be a sensible move for any frontline politician.

Chris Martin ● 4461d

Surely if one really is sincere and telling the truth they don't need to have acting lessons beforehand?

Jean F Fernandez ● 4461d

But they can spell better than I do.

Gerry Tan ● 4461d

Most senior polititions are a rum lot - I'd class them with estate agents, tabloid journalists and bent solicitors - they're as straight as nine pound notes when it comes to sincerity imo.

Gerry Tan ● 4461d

Given Tony Blair, Ed Milliband and others had the same this isn't really news.For people who speak on a daily basis in public, doesn't it make sense for them to get their messages across to the electorate succinctly? Anyway, political point scoring aside, this is a given for any leader, not just politicians - which is precisely why leaders of other large organisations (NHS, BBC etc.) have been through the same training.

Chris Martin ● 4461d

I am not surprised..acting is about faking sincerity and you don't expect them to pay for the lessons themselves do you? Better for them to get the people they are trying to fool to pay.

Keith Iddon ● 4461d