Tuesday, 25 May 2010

Childish Gesture Politics

I'm probably going to be going against the grain on this one:-

£10m savings on cutting down on first-class travel and £5m from restricting ministerial cars and drivers and getting members of the government to walk, use public transport or a pooled car. David Laws, the chief secretary to the Treasury, is the first ditch the personal car and driver he is entitled to.

The first-class travel for MPs I broadly agree with, but I'm really not sure about restricting ministerial cars. The issue strikes me as ticking 2 boxes: the public who are angry about expenses and the eco nuttters.

Because whilst I like the idea of MPs remaining grounded, the fact is that most of us don't have a billion or more of spending under our control. Are we really to expect that when Michael Gove goes off to a school in Devizes that he'll take a tube across to Paddington, a train to Swindon and buy himself a Wiltshire Rover ticket and sit on the bus there?

It's daft penny-pinching which will save something close to piss all. Closing down the DCMS or DBERR would save far more money and do far more good.

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