Spin cycle

For a moment I was fooled by the headline:

McConnell outdoes Brown on public sector savings plan

Scottish Labour is going to cut expenditure! Wonderful. Let's bring out the malt and drink a toast to Jack McConnell. But then I read the small print:

The savings, which would mean £500 million every year for capital projects and front-line services, go further than the cuts announced for the public sector in England.

And what exactly are those "front-line services"?

It's not difficult to guess:

JACK McConnell wants to boost spending on schools and hospitals by finding savings of £500million a year in the Executive's budget

Our state schools have lost their world-class status. Scotland's health "service" already gets more per-capita expenditure than anywhere else in Europe but dissatisfaction with the NHS is higher here than in England. More expenditure on government schools and hospitals is the last thing we need. Our money is wasted on this sort of thing:

A LEADING scientist who helped to develop a disinfectant that NHS Scotland officials hope will provide a groundbreaking weapon against MRSA has claimed the product is little different to common household cleaners found in supermarkets.

If Jack McConnell can really make some public sector savings (which I doubt) he should return the cash to where it belongs - in the pockets of the taxpayers.