A minister was a few minutes late to answer some questions about Her Majesty’s Government… and decided that he had disgraced his office, so resigned on the spot and walked out of the House of Lords.
Am I embellishing anything? No. Am I missing anything? I don’t think so. Dude just up and quit for being 5 minutes late to work.
My first thought is to wonder whether he has recently been afflicted with a mental illness.
Well, you I don’t know if you missed it, but you didn’t post this part:
Sounds like when I tried to quit my job a couple years back. Boss heard me out and said no. Good times.
I had a little job one time, the pay was shit, the conditions were crappy. I quit approximately 17 times. One time 4 resignations in one day. The boss kept chasing me down and begging me to come back. I thought they really like me, I must be very good at this stupid job. No, no, not so much. They just couldn’t get any other sucker to do this crappy job.
I don’t like to brag, but I have never had a boss refuse to let me quit. A few even helped streamline the transition by suggesting it first.
Well, yes, he’s British. Most British people would rather be dead than embarrassed, I think.
Seriously though, if you are enjoying this story, you should try a few episodes of “Very British Problems.”
In a similar situation, I used to work at an airport bar and quit on several occasions because the management was totally incompetent. The problem with storming out of an airport bar is that you then have to sit and wait for the employee shuttle before you can get in your car and drive off in a huff. So the manager was always able to catch me in the shuttle waiting zone.
Those of us who are more cynical look at this resignation as a publicity gimmick.
Years ago I told my boss I was thinking of quitting. He said, “Yeah, me too.”
Last year it was a race to see whether my manager or I would quit first. I won.
The really funny thing is that the job I got was the one my manager had left 18 months earlier (my manager’s replacement there/here was retiring).
I also have never been unsuccessful in resigning 
My thought was, “Man, what an awesome way to skip Question Period!” Did anybody actually call him on that?
But to what end? My first instinct is that he was having a laugh with dry wit cranked to 11.
So you had to drive off in a minute and a huff? 
It’s even better when they thoughtfully send along a couple of burly folks to help you pack and move!
However, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “With typical sincerity, Lord Bates today offered to tender his resignation after missing the start of an oral questions session in the House of Lords, but his resignation was refused as it was judged this was unnecessary.”
I think this changes a lot, actually. If he knew they would refuse, it could just a be a sign of humility or validation seeking.
I’d also say that line alone makes it sound like it could also have been a joke, with “typical sincerity” being ironic, but the rest of the article makes it clear this is not so.
Nah, he felt bad because someone else had to step in for him at the last minute. Bates seems like a well-respected, decent and honourable sort of fellow, and the reaction of his peers (geddit!?), both his own side and opposition rather bears that out.
When I left my job, I wanted to get laid off. Not fired exactly, but I didn’t want to retire. It took MONTHS! 
Of course the reason was a severance. I had until the end of the calendar year to get out before policies changed. I just made it.
As far as I can tell, the worst thing one can do is retire. Not a cost-effective (to the employee) way to go at all.
I thought Question Period was the only part of session entertaining enough that anyone stayed awake,
This gave me a good laugh!
Yes. Like being shot at.