The main news this Thursday pm Is the big government re-shuffle.
I have with me, to discuss his new empire,
the Minister for Administrative Affairs, James Hacker.
It's been said that you are now Mr Town Hall as well as Mr Whitehall.
Well, itĄ¯s very flattering of you to put it that way.
It wasnĄ¯t me who put it that way, It was the Dally Mirror.
I just confirm that you are chief bureaucrat.
That's nonsense. This government believes in reducing bureaucracy.
Figures I have here say
that your departmentĄ¯s staff has risen by 10%.
Certainly not. What figure do you have?
I believe the figure Is much more like 9.97.
Well, it has been suggested
that your department Is less interested
in reducing bureaucracy than in increasing it.
Well, yes, but that's because we've had to take on more staff
in order to reduce staff.
I beg your pardon? itĄ¯s common sense.
We need more doctors to cure more patents,
more firemen to extinguish more fires.
How will you extinguish local government bureaucracy?
It's a challenge I'm looking forward to.
Would you agree there's even more bureaucratic waste
there than in Whitehall?
Yes, that's what makes it a challenge.
How will you meet the challenge?
It's far too early to give detailed proposals.
I've just come here direct from Number 10.
From number9.97, perhaps!
The broad strategy Is to cut ruthlessly at waste
while leaving essential services intact.
That's what your predecessor said. Did he fall?
Let me finish. Because we must be absolutely clear
and I'm gong to be quite frank with you.
The fact is that, at the end of the day, It is the right, the duty,
of the elected government in the House of Commons
to ensure government policy on which we were elected
and for which we have a mandate,
the policies for which the people voted,
are the policies which, finally,
when the national cake has been divided up...
we, as a nation, don't have unlimited wealth?
We can't pay ourselves more than we earn.
...are the policies...
I'm sorry, what was the question again?
I was just asking you whether you would agree
that your p