The Bumper Book of Government Waste 2008: Brown's Squandered Billions

by Matthew Elliott (Author), Lee Rotherham (Author), Lee Rotherham (Author), Matthew Elliott (Author), Lee Rotherham (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2007

  $3.47

  It's back and, depressingly, the figure is even bigger than last time. Welcome again to the world of waste. In this new edition of The Bumper Book , Matthew Elliot and Lee Rotherham have unearthed a staggering GBP101 billion of government misspending - all paid for by you, the taxpayer. It's such an enormous figure it is difficult to get one's head around it. What could be done with GBP101 billion? Well, you could for example, paper the entire East Midlands and London with GBP5 notes, and still have a few billion left over to build one hell of a crane from which to admire your handiwork. Or even convert the GBP101 billion into one penny coins, pile them on top of each other, and reach the moon and back five times.But perhaps more usefully, the government could cut the tax burden of every household by over GBP4,000 a year.Mind blowing isn't it?Here are just a few examples of where all of that money has gone: GBP280,000 on a conference addressed by Blair and Brown on value for money in the public services; GBP400 million on 'cost control' for the Olympic Games; GBP3 million by tax inspectors at HM Revenue and Customs on flights, including GBP2.1 million on flights to Scotland; Over GBP16 million on the creation and upkeep of VIP lounges in Heathrow and Gatwick despite the fact they are not government-owned; GBP100,000 on assessing whether GBP400,000 reportedly spent on modern art for seven hospitals was money well spent. But then it's hardly a surprise that they don't have a tight grip on our finances when you see an official statistic from the government, claiming that an impressive 102 per cent of all 3 year olds are in nursery school. With this level of numeracy, no wonder we're in trouble! If you're a British taxpayer, you need to read this book - even though it will hurt.