To cut public spending is supposedly going to be both difficult and painful, yet we are everywhere presented with such obvious folly and waste. The NHS has spent £40,000 on a poster campaign to cheer up the residents of deprived housing estates (smiley face good, grumpy face bad), whilst Suffolk County Council has hired a new press officer at a rate of £700 per day. This woman supposedly commands a salary commensurate with her experience, yet her previous employers are said to be the Countryside Agency (presumably a Quango) and the Alzheimer’s Society (a charity). Have these organisations been paying her similarly inflated rates? If so, how did they come to lose their grip on reality? I cannot believe that there is anything she does or could do in the workplace that entitles her to lead a life of luxury. For anyone who is reasonably personable and articulate, being a press officer must surely count as one of the world’s less demanding jobs – isn’t it just a matter of feeding the odd story to the media? – and one questions whether Suffolk County Council would cease to function if it left the position vacant. On the other hand, £700 per day might be a fairer rate for those who are risking their lives in Afghanistan … As for the glum council tenants, why not hand out free Dad’s Army DVDs, a cheaper and far more effective way of cheering them up?