The Government's choice of Sir Philip Green as its advisor on how to cut spending is curious in the extreme. Sir Philip seems to be a good retailer, if your taste runs to cheaply-produced mass market clothing, but he's conspicuously not a man who shares the lifestyle of his customers or wears much of the stuff he sells in his stores.
There's no reason whatsoever to think that he has any great insight into saving money in the public sector. The people working in the public sector know better than anyone how to run it more efficiently -- they just need the incentives to do it. I suspect Sir Philip's money saving achievements in his own businesses have mostly involved moving production offshore, and that is (thankfully) a non-starter for most public services.
Sir Philip is also a long-term tax avoider, which I'd have thought makes him a risky partner for the new government as it tries to convince the taxpaying public that "we're all in this together". No offence meant, Sir Philip, but if we're going to look to a shopkeeper for help run the country, I'd prefer it to be one who lives above the shop.
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