Since 2010, every government department has tried to highlight the profligate spending of their predecessors in the most imaginative ways possible. In return, Labour have been on the look out for the slightest whiff of waste upon which to jump in order to claim they have changed their ways. Parliamentary Questions are placed, diaries tipped off and John Prescott is still denying that the civil service credit card billing at his local Chinese was anything to do with him.
This latest letter that I have been passed, however, takes the metaphorical biscuit. After a story appeared in the Sun on Sunday about glamorous Russian fans demanding photos of Eric Pickles, it seems his Labour shadow Hilary Benn saw a chance to make some mischief, by requesting a photo. Pickles’ deputy Brandon Lewis returned fire:
Dear Hilary,
Your Parliamentary researcher recently wrote to the Department for Communities and Local Government asking for a signed photograph of the Secretary of State.
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