CZARIST WESTMINSTER.

In the West, the English spelling of Tsar is the norm. Prime Minister Blair, of the last wasteful Labour regime, introduced the idea of a tsar whenever a problem arose, whereby he found it prudent to put the subject into the hands of a separate Quango; supposedly to sound out the public reaction to contentious items, keeping the heat away from the door of government. We call it 'chicken'.

This very expensive aside to government is the subject of an article in the weekend press written by Dominic Sandbrook, in which he points out that the number of these bodies is now vast; costing taxpayer GB a fortune. Any particular tricky problem is now overseen by a tsar for this or that; appointed by government, not elected by the public. The practise commenced by Blair, is being continued with the same enthusiasm under Cameron. Each head of these bodies receives a salary well into three figures, with staff growing by the day. We are talking 'big bucks' here. It would appear, that, as yet, no actions have been taken by government against any recommendations, if there ever were any.

In addition to the above, Sandbrook wrote about the cult of celebrity, which, as in any walk of life, is operating with gusto in the Westminster village. This last week we have witnessed a shuffling of the 'deck chairs' in both the Government and Opposition 'Front Bench'. There seems to have been a plunge into the unknown, introducing 'eye candy'; these women may prove to be suitable, but they weren't appointed on that basis. For example, the brightest young female on the Government benches is Priti Patel, a tough speaking, no nonsense politician, and one suspects, much too hot for the Prime Minister to handle; so she got a 'thumbs down'.

AFTER ALL, IT'S ONLY A GAME.