I'm reading the Bumper Book of Government Waste at the moment. It reaches the conclusion that this Government has so far managed to waste about £100bn.
Now, figures like that are always hard to put in context. Inevitably, some money will always be wasted - I wouldn't be so arrogant as to suggest that I have never wasted any, for example. So we can't expect HMG to get every spending decision spot on. So I wondered how I could make that figure meaningful.
Then I realised - I know roughly what I pay in tax each year. I know the total tax revenue is of the order of £500bn, so if I divide one into the other, I get the proportion of tax revenue that comes from me. Reassuringly, it is quite a small percentage. However, when I multiplied that by £100bn, I was left with a number that was roughly equal to my total pension savings to date. That, I will admit, made me stop and think.
In short, if Gordon was not such of a wasteful taxgrabbing inefficient narrowminded unfair (yes, unfair) apology for a leader, my pension would be twice its current level. Or I could have a new car; a very very nice new car.
That is theft; I want it back.
Anyway, I'm now very angry, which is not good for the body or for the soul. So I don't recommend that you try this exercise.
I knew I'd blow a fuse if I read that book, so please take the pain for me and report back.
ReplyDeleteGive us a few of the biggies.
ReplyDeleteThe helicopters that don't fly.
The hospitals that open just before being merged and close again...
I wonder how much of Government waste is party or ideology led, and how much general administrative incompetence.
Private Eye must have a file as thick as schools minister by now.
No file could ever be that thick, BQ!
ReplyDeleteLFAT - yes, fuses are blowing a little too frequently to make swift progress through the book so I've temporarily moved onto something more amusing until I can return.