PM criticised for hiring 'butler'

12 April 2012

Gordon Brown was criticised for hiring himself a "butler" to tend to himself and senior officials as the economic crisis deepens in the country.

The Tories claimed an advertisement for a £29,000-a-year front of house assistant required to tend to senior officials and VIPs amounted to "Brown's Downing Street Butler".

They claimed the job was an example of the thousands of jobs in the public sector created under Labour which would do little to improve public services.

According to the party public sector employment has risen by almost 600,000 since Labour came to power and in the last three months an extra 15,000 central government jobs were created. But many of these new positions are only available to existing civil servants and are not advertised to the general public, Tories say.

The front of house position is featured in a Tory survey which includes posts for a £55,000 Whitehall chief psychologist, a £72,000 head of international relations for the pensions regulator, a £185,000 senior civil servant to support Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and "proactive intelligence officers" to carry out surveillance of staff in HM Revenue and Customs.

The advertisement for the job states: "The main duties of the post will require you to carry out personal attendance on senior officials whilst they are working or entertaining in the Office or at the House of Commons.

"This will involve duties at luncheons, dinners and reception including the preparation of refreshments. The welcoming and escorting of VIPs within the Office is also an essential part of the job."

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said: "A million people face losing their private sector jobs this year thanks to Gordon Brown's recession, followed by rocketing taxes on families and pensioners to pay back Labour's £1 trillion of government debt.

"Yet Gordon Brown's top priority seems to be hiring a new butler to tend on him and his flunkies at Downing Street luncheons, dinners and receptions. Public cash is being wasted on bankrolling jobs with little public benefit or which just perpetuate the Whitehall culture of spin and heavy-handed regulation.

"Gordon Brown's so-called job creation scheme is just a 21st Century version of jobs for the boys."

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