Mrs Horace and I have been on our holidays.
We had thought about cancelling the trip, given that the outlook for my local government career is, at best, uncertain, but we decided to go nonetheless and escape the gloom of the UK.
What we didn’t reckon upon was that Greece would be even deeper in the mire than the UK, and that our trip would be punctuated with little ‘challenges’ such as striking ferry crews.
Like us, the situation in Greece doesn’t seem to be just about cuts, and the working population is now battling with the notion of increased taxes and pay freezes in the public sector.
Echoes of home, then, but nothing would prepare me for what I came back to (not the football… that was hardly a surprise.)
No, I’m talking about the letter from Nick Clegg and David Cameron asking for ideas on how to trim down the public sector.
Call me cynical, but isn’t this a case of asking turkeys to vote for Christmas?
I suppose the department for administrative administrations (universal services) would be at the top of most cuts lists, and, if I’m honest, I suppose a separate department isn’t really needed to monitor the council’s every buying decision.
But while I may reluctantly acknowledge the fat of my department, I think my reply to the Cleggameron will be that hefty local government cuts, particularly up here in the North, mean you are cutting to the region’s biggest employer.
Now what was all that stuff about local government helping to generate and support vibrant local economies?
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