The Bumper Book of Government Waste

Book excerpt: Welcome to the world of waste. You are about to enter a twilight zone of crazy spending, political correctness, utter incompetence, and fantastic jollies, all funded by the British taxpayer.In this book, the authors have highlighted a myriad of examples of Government waste and useless spending, taken from thousands of examples held on file. The figures have been compiled from independent reports, media coverage and official statistics. Added together, they come to #81 billion of waste.- In 1997, the Government plundered #2 billion per week from its people. In 2004-05, the figure was #4.8 billion.- The Arts Council spent #77,000 sending a team of artists to the North Pole to make a snowman.- Quangos cost over #22 billion per year.- Local government pension schemes are in deficit to the tune of #27 billion. The taxpayer will fund the difference.- 459 books were withdrawn from the EU's Luxembourg library last year. The cost to taxpayers was #2,138 per book.- Ken Livingstone's office now costs #13.9 million to run. His staff includes 58 media and marketing personnel!- Between 2000 and 2005, one in every two new jobs created was in the public sector, many of them administrative.- Nottinghamshire tourism bosses spent #120,000 of taxpayers' money rebranding the county with a big 'N'.- Each European member of Parliament (MEP) costs #2.4 million per year in salary, expenses, perks and administration.- In 2005, 20 out of 24 government departments overspent their budgets. The total overspend was #7.1 billion.These are just a few of the alarming facts and figures revealed in The Bumper Book of Government Waste. If you wasted your family's money on this scale, you would probably be locked up. Whyshould the