Product Description

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 GBP81 billion of waste. In 1997, the Government plundered GBP2 billion per week from its people. In 2004-05, the figure was GBP4.8 billion. The Arts Council spent GBP77,000 sending a team of artists to the North Pole to make a snowman. Quangos cost over GBP22 billion per year. Local government pension schemes are in deficit to the tune of GBP27 billion. The taxpayer will fund the difference. 459 books were withdrawn from the EU's Luxembourg library last year. The cost to taxpayers was GBP2,138 per book. Ken Livingstone's office now costs GBP13.9 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 GBP120,000 of taxpayers' money rebranding the county with a big 'N'. Each European member of Parliament (MEP) costs GBP2.4 million per year in salary, expenses, perks and administration. In 2005, 20 out of 24 government departments overspent their budgets. The total overspend was GBP7.1 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. Why should the Government get away with it?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38682 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 223 pages

Sunday Times, January 08, 2006
Who's a pretty wasteful prime minister, then?

Daily Telegraph, January 16, 2006
Tax needn't be quite this taxing

Daily Telegraph, January 16, 2006
£225,000 lavished on slipper safety advice

Customer Reviews

Breathtaking review of just how much of our money is wasted
This book has had a lot of mentions in the press recently so I thought I would find out what all the fuss was about.
I was really shocked to read how much of my tax money is being spent on hair-brained schemes and the comfort of fat cat politicians and their friends, when at the same time people are dying waiting for operations and kids are getting a bad education.
This has actually convinced me that politicans just cannot be trusted with our money-I for one would now rather spend the money myself and donate 500 pounds to my nearest hospice or care home than have to live with the thought that someone just received a huge paycheque for a patronising study telling old people how to wear slippers!
I think it is always important to remember that the more you have, the more you can give, and this book definitely shows that we should have more than we do now! It is time for this absurd behaviour to change.

Government at its 'out of control' best.
Having just watched series one and two of Yes, Prime Minister, a review of the book, The Bumper Book of Government Waste, in the weekend papers caught my attention. On reading the review I immediately went out and bought a copy and read it cover to cover over a couple of evenings. As well as bringing a smile to my face on numerous occasions it also made my blood boil to think that the Government and its ministers can call upon money which isn't theirs and waste it, on seemingly, whatever takes their fancy.

Every tax payer in the land should read this book; how the Government gets away with what it does beggars belief. As a business owner I find the whole thing infuriating as there is now no incentive at all to run a business and employ people. It makes me want to throw in the towel and go and get a job as a civil servant, knowing fully well that I will be looked after, have a great pension and never have to worry about getting the sack from my job, no matter how badly I screw up!

The sooner the whole system of Government comes crashing to its knees the better.

A fantastic book – if only it wasn't necessary though!
The TaxPayers' Alliance has been getting some fantastic coverage in the media for its low tax campaign, not least due to the publication of the Bumper Book of Government Waste. The book is a comprehensive review of Government spending and how big government leads to high taxes which lead to huge waste and inefficiency. As a taxpayer, it is sometimes painful to read the examples of waste highlighted by Matthew Elliott and Lee Rotherham. It would be nice to think that there won't be a need for further editions of this book -- I somehow doubt it though!