He's right but oh, the money, the money...

LEGITIMATE TANGENT: Putting the 'con' in consultancy

A common theme for bashing the unwashed is to talk of 'dependency culture.' With a completely straight face, the ruling class will use this term to condemn those whose motivation and effectivess has been neutralised by complete reliance on others to sort out their problems. The delicious irony that they could just as well be describing the relationship between every government department and the cancer of private consultancy eludes them.

Most government departments now rely almost entirely on private sector consultancy to do their planning, thinking and, occasionally, photocopying. And the cost, gentle reader to the public purse is utterly, crazily colossal. Our sector is being gangbanged by a collection of feral and cynical wolves. Oh, it started off innocently enough, just a mild flirtation with the big boys in the red braces. A few facilitations here and there. An away day or two by the grassy banks of a river. But soon, we were looking to them for everything. We were dazzled by the powerpoints and the action plans. We lost our sense of self-worth and independence. Now we are trapped at the wrong end of an abusive relationship and we've only ourselves to blame.

I absolutely agree but, on the other hand, the thought of my dear wife earning £800 a day consultancy fees on top of her pension when she retires for doing essentially what she does now for a lot less rather appeals to me (assuming I'm still in the land of the living when it happens). But yes, er, ahem, it's absolutely disgraceful (cough, splutter).