Cartoon by John Sadler

• HOW extraordinary and how unacceptable, if Camden Council is really claiming that it would take them “more than 36 hours of work” to ascertain whether or not it paid for World Cup trips or tickets for its employees with council funds! (Thirty-six hours work to find out if Camden Council sent anybody to the World Cup, November 1).

I personally very much doubt that even Camden would be that wasteful. What I find far more concerning is the mere fact that they apparently cannot immediately say for sure.

It would take the accounts department of an averagely efficient, large corporation less than half an hour to check.

Up and down the country, local councils of all colours are bemoaning shrinking funds. Yet there is always money at these councils for numerous press officers, swanky new offices, trashy council magazines and all the other vanity-driven fripperies that should, if necessary, be cut before absolutely anything else is considered.

Until they address that, concentrate on their core tasks and become more efficient and less self-indulgent, few taxpayers will have much sympathy.

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