OPEN

All’s fair in political point-scoring etc., but the Tory attack on Government spending on press officers is a cheap shot and disingenuous in the extreme. How much would they cut back on communicating effectively? Take it back to 1997 levels (a third of the number now employed, according to the Guardian).

The "wages of spin" is a clever phrase, but also willfully playing on most people’s lack of understanding of communications – that it’s all about spin rather than responsibility and making sure important information gets to the people who need it.

I’m certainly not saying that Government is always effective in its communications, but antagonising public opinion so that officials will be afraid of spending enough to hire the best people or agencies to do the job is irresponsible.