At the end of the day though I didn’t really need an excuse, it was more of a formality. I wasn’t fired and technically I didn’t quit; the contract expired and while I was offered a renewal (under which I would have been entitled to neither holidays, sick leave or any of the other benefits of being a permanent employee) I was under no obligation to accept it. It’s a bit of a loophole but its still fair play.

I could have explained it that way to the jobcentre from the beginning and saved myself some hassle but my old company decided to tell the jobcentre I had “quit” and ence start this problem.
Since the jobcentre cant directly deal with such matters they tender it out to impartial “observers” that hear both sides of the story. Which means they read my letter and then went to talk with the company and confront them with what I had said so they could explain their side of the story.

Notice how the text carries all the juicy bits but isn’t necessarily offensive unless it’s true. I knew they would see it, and since the decision came in my favour then the truth came to light. In all likelihood they now know exactly why I quit, and in the end that was the whole point

They wanted a graduate level engineer to do manual assembly and minor testing duties on a permanent basis without having to commit to anything. And the kicker is I wouldn’t have minded doing it while searching for a better job. What I didn’t like was that they lied to me in order to do it.