Gathering for a cabinet away-day on Thursday, Tory ministers had few ideas about how they would respond to the cost of living crisis affecting the daily lives of millions.
They were also desperate to stop being harangued about the staggering 100 fixed penalty notices issued to Downing Street officials who wrote and broke the lockdown rules we all lived under during the Covid-19 pandemic.
What better idea to distract attention than announce you will sack one in five of the country’s civil servants.
The move, ministers claim, could save billions of pounds.
But, then, so would a tax on the profits of North Sea oil companies and whatever happened to that £350million a week we were meant to save by not being in the EU?
Clearly, the Tories don’t have the pinstriped “Yes, Minister” Whitehall mandarins in their sight for a cull.
It is the public servants who keep the country running who will be the targets.
If you are applying for a passport, waiting in vain for a driving test or trying to get an appointment about your benefits and work situation, the Tory government’s redundancy wheeze is going to affect you.
The trade unions are in righteous fury and threatening to strike.
But that is exactly the reaction Downing Street wants.
Casting public servants as the bogeymen holding the country back while Prime Minister does nothing about the economic crisis is the aim here.
Distraction and diversion are the trademarks of Boris Johnson. He is trying to scapegoat public sector staff for his own very public failings.
Laughing at us
No decent person could look back on the pandemic and think it was in any way a laughing matter.
Tens of thousands of people lost their lives and others were deprived of seeing their loved ones for months.
Businesses went bust, the NHS nearly imploded and the mental health of many people deteriorated.
Yet callous Tory chairman Oliver Dowden thought it was OK to donate a bottle of champagne signed by Boris Johnson to a charity auction.
In a dismal attempt at making light of Partygate, the description on the bottle read: “Hugely valuable as a souvenir of partygate and the exemplary behaviour and morality of our dear leader.”
Not only were Johnson and cronies partying hard while others obeyed lockdown rules, they are openly guffawing about it.
This is further evidence the Government is run by privileged cretins who do not understand the sacrifices made over the last two years.
Voters should have the last laugh by turfing these chancers out of office.
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