£130 Million spent on Jack Straws Office

Here we go again, another day and another huge amount of taxpayers cash spunked up against the wall.

The Prime Minister Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, sorry James Gordon Brown today said that crime will be reduced by the building of the Golden House sorry Jack Straws new office.

Like his famous political namesake Gordon has wasted millions on games for the plebs which will have little financial benefit for the nation other than to take the minds of the plebs and proles off of their woes.

Opposition politicians and union leaders have expressed astonishment at the cost of the project to create a new home for Justice Secretary Jack Straw and his staff.

The remodelling of the concrete tower block, next to St James’ Park in London, cost £915 a square foot to complete – around 18 times more than a standard refurbishment would cost in the private sector.

In addition to the refurbishment costs, £2,745,000 was lavished on new furniture and fittings for the offices and £290,000 was spent on artwork.

Nick Herbert, the shadow justice secretary, said: “A Government that prioritised public safety might have used this money to prevent the early release of prisoners.

Instead they’ve spent a staggering sum on a new palace for the Lord Chancellor.

“When ministers are demanding cuts in prison and courts budgets, such lavish spending on their own offices will intensify questions about the value of a new department which is clearly failing to live up to its own name.”

From the outside, the Ministry of Justice offices look no different from when the Home Office moved out of the same building in 2005.

Harry Fletcher assistant general secretary of the probation union NAPO, condemned the expense.

“This is a colossal waste of taxpayers’ money. This is an extraordinary sense of priorities,” he said.
“At the same time as they are spending a huge amount of money on refurbishing this building, they are about to cut the probation budget by £120m and shed 3,000 prison jobs, all of which will lead to more reoffending and more victims.

“Lavish refurbishment seems more important to ministers than reducing crime.”
In October this year leaked documents revealed secret plans to cut 10,000 jobs over the next three years at the Ministry of Justice and its agencies.

Official documents indicated that 3,000 jobs would go from the Prison Service, more than 3,100 in the courts and more than 1,300 in probation.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said the “rationalisation” of its estate would bring “substantial future savings”.

New offices and artwork whilst the nation falls apart. A case of Nero fiddling whilst Rome burns. Still at least Brown has not killed off his mother….yet.

The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance. – Cicero – 55 BC

“A weak currency is the sign of a weak economy, which is the sign of a weak government” – Gordon Brown, 1995