Am I being unfair....

Further to my rather critical comments about Phil Dolan and his 'golden goodbye' it has been pointed out that this is pretty much 'standard issue' in government. Managers at all levels are compensated, in part, as a measure of their level of responsibility and a major factor in that consideration is the number of people for whom they are responsible. So, as far as management goes, the greater the number of bodies in the office, the better the salary and pension prospects of the managers. Put another way, obesity in government is incentivised.

The Daily Racist and the other tabloids yap on about 'lazy council workers' and 'jobs for the boys or girls' but, as far as I know, Council employees, in common with all employees in local and national government, apply for and accept jobs that are offered to them. People don't turn up at Council offices or government departments brandishing guns and demanding that they be given a job. No, for the most part they respond to job opportunities that are created by management. Which is exactly why Phil's 'Golden P45' is so galling. At a time when the footsoldiers are being told that their jobs are disappearing, that the economy is in recession so their employment prospects are poor, at exactly the same time people like Phil Dolan swan out the door dragging a sack of loot behind them.

And its people like Phil Dolan who 'managed' the economy into the mess that almost destroyed it in 2008. And its people like Phil Dolan who benefited from the employee numbers because those numbers made Phils 'Golden P45' all the bigger.

I wonder if David Cameron would like to apply slash and burn to government management locally, regionally and nationally? I doubt that he's got the balls for it because the civil service would fillet him. But I'd at least like to see him try.

Till next time, I'm still Niall Connolly

PS I missed this programme but the synopsis looks interesting. Extreme? Probably. Worrying? Definitely.