Two guns for each desk

We have one pen pusher and paper shuffler for every two soldiers in the Ministry of Defence while in the NHS we have a manager - that's an even better paid pen pusher and paper shuffler - for every five beds.

On top of that we spend more on that modern parasite, the management consultant, than any other nation that can boast indoor plumbing - up to £600 million a year in the NHS alone with precious little having anything to do with patients.

Not that any of that comes up in the my dog is bigger than your dog party political conference season.

But whichever bunch of third raters finds themselves in No 10 when the music stops after the next election it does give a hint where perhaps the cuts to stave off national bankruptcy might start without affecting services one iota.

As an aside since Labour came to power the public sector has grown by 600,000 jobs despite flogging off any department that was not nailed down such as Qinetic and CDC, Aureos and Actis, to the immense financial benefit of those who take over - who are often the civil servants who negotiated the sale in the first place.

Yet with all these extra staff in what should be fewer departments the number of consultants is rising all the time which begs the question of why those in charge don't actually employ people who can do the job in the first place?

Why do we divert huge amounts of taxpayer's money to pay outsiders who are programmed to suggest job losses followed by outsourcing and privatisation - using their companies of course - while displaying their primary expertise which is claiming exorbitant rates?

Just a thought.