Are you implementing unpopular public sector reforms? Would you benefit from political cover from a supposedly “independent” body? Simply follow the following recipe from British Sous-Chef Chancellor George Osborne. You will need:
One septuagenarian economist or one disgruntled Blairite
A group of Treasury civil servants
One laser printer
Some Blu-Tac
A name for the new organisation (including the word “independent”)
To create the new body:
1: Use the laser printer to make an A4 sign
2: Stick it outside the room where the Treasury civil servants are already working. Make sure you obscure the old signage properly or people will cotton on!
And – hey presto! – you have your new office. Scrapbook readers have already seen the impressive results for the Office for Budget Responsibility. Set up by George Osborne to guarantee the “independence and integrity” of growth and borrowing figures, the OBR comprised the same Treasury economists that produced data slammed by Osborne:
Scrapbook can now reveal photos of a more recent creation, the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission led by former Labour cabinet minister John Hutton. In keeping with the mood of austerity sweeping across Whitehall, the sign was produced in black and white rather than colour:
Naturally, press enquiries for this independent body should be directed to Malcolm Graves in the, erm, Treasury press office.
