[Ignitionnet]

Here's a thought while discussing cuts.

There is probably no need for councils to wage a propaganda war to ensure that blame for the cuts falls upon the coalition. But the London borough of Newham has launched one nonetheless. Besides spitting vitriol about coalition cuts in its in-house magazine (which costs £547,000 a year to produce), the borough’s £81,000-a-year elected mayor Sir Robin Wales (who rules in tandem with the borough’s £241,000-a-year chief executive) has made a video moaning about the unfairness of his reduced budget. The video holds forth about the great achievements of the council — omitting, for some reason, any mention of the £111 million that the council has just spent buying and fitting out its own spanking new waterside HQ. It is so luxurious — with designer lights costing £1,800 each — that it won an award from the British Council for Offices, beating any bank headquarters. But the cost of this temple of extravagance has nothing to do with your child’s playgroup or your meal-on-wheels being cancelled, of course — that is all the government’s fault.