Empire Building The New Way…

…or why we are all up s**t creek without a paddle.

Labour's public sector spending has created a wave of 'Soviet' boroughs where around half the population depends on the state for work, figures revealed yesterday.

An analysis of council statistics showed that in ten areas more than 40 per cent of the workforce is employed in the public sector.

And it’s not just the cost of the wage packet for all these State serfs (though that is vast). Nor the fact that they are often engaged in work that doesn’t need to be done at all or is a detriment to progress (though that’s a valid concern).

The real bombshell is in the pensions for those staff.

All but two have Labour MPs - the others are Liberal Democrat.

Of course. But does anyone really think that the Tories would be any better? It’s likely they’d make small, cosmetic cuts, maybe in the worst or most obviously useless quangos, but real change? Unlikely.

The North East dominates the list, with Castle Morpeth's neighbouring borough of Wansbeck second with 47.5 per cent employed by the state and Durham third on 46.7 per cent.

The Government has based agencies and set up quangos such as One North East in the region to tackle unemployment caused by the decline of traditional industries such as coal mining.

By directly employing the unemployed in ‘make work’ or in more government intrusion and tickbox schemes to harass the private sector.

Still, I suppose it beats goin’ down t’pit….

Richard Dodds, a farmer and Tory councillor on Castle Morpeth borough and Northumberland councils, said: 'I produce wheat and cattle but there are a lot of people who produce absolutely nothing.

'Everything is about monitoring performances and going on courses. We've had an awful lot of white elephants and non-jobs created in the North East.'

A more perfect display of the difference between real work and government work it’d be hard to find…