Amid all of the wrangling and wrestling over what ought to, or mustn’t occur, to attempt to counter the burgeoning advantages payments on this nation, one story has been allowed to slide by comparatively unnoticed. But it deserves the total glare of the eye of all of us who fund this unjustifiable jamboree of bogus spending. It is solely: hundreds of civil servants have loved a “Spend, Spend, Spend” model of buying spree that’s usually solely the protect of lottery winners or ludicrously overpaid soccer gamers, and within the course of racked up a invoice of £675 million for one 12 months alone. And that mind-boggling determine has greater than quadrupled in simply 4 years!
These vile chancers are on the Government payroll and have entry to a GPC, or Government Procurement Card. Forget Mastercard or Visa, in case you’re on the taxpayer payroll ensure you “never leave home without it”. For these of you who can keep in mind the times of the conveyor belt on Bruce Forsyth’s Generation Game, right here’s “what’s on offer tonight” that you just and I’ve paid for: Foreign Office employees spending £2,493 on sneakers at a modern retailer in Barbados; a complete of £49,511 on beer, wine and different booze from July to October of final 12 months and £2,479 of sound system tools from the net store DJ Superstore.
When correctly used, these playing cards are vital. Military personnel refuelling tanks or plane, or scientists buying vital provides, for instance. But a binge on sneakers that wouldn’t have disgraced Imelda Marcos just isn’t a superb match.
Rightly this ludicrous largesse has been reined in by the (comparatively) new authorities, though it’s price recalling that booze bonanza from July was on their watch. Now, most of the 20,000 individuals who had a “GPC” will discover it lacking from their pockets or purse and might be requested to justify why they deserve such seemingly limitless spending energy.
All of which is each very welcome and effectively earlier than time. But what of the surprising extra that has been permitted to this point. Do you think about those that have clearly ripped us off and benefitted from this absurdly unaudited regime might be known as to account?
Me neither. But so long as this perk is completely parked, we would have made some progress.
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RE. THAT supposed “crackdown on benefits?” Were they taking the PIPs?
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This time final week when you had been studying this column I used to be on the couch with my fiancée doing one thing we’ve solely ever performed twice earlier than. And each occasions it made us late to go to mattress and drained the following day.
Naturally, I seek advice from “binge watching” and this time it was the Netflix collection Adolescence, which amazingly put us forward of the pack as we had been on to it earlier than its deserved explosion in curiosity final week and viewing figures of 24 million in simply 4 days.
The filming and directing is the ultimate and each single actor is sensible. But particular point out should go to Owen Cooper who performs the teenager on the coronary heart of the story, and Stephen Graham, who can be the present’s co-creator. The closing sequence in his son’s bed room melts the toughest of hearts.
They ought to take wheelbarrows to subsequent award nights to hold off the gongs.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/2030693/civil-service-taxpayers-cost