Politicians and freeloaders are descending on Beijing, in a £7m freebie at the public's expense. The Daily Telegraph has done the maths and disclosed the 'British' Olympic squad will be outnumbered two-to-one by politicians, civil servants, BBC staff and the like, at a cost to the public of almost £7m.
More than 600 publicly-funded staff will be in Beijing, including government ministers, press officers, local councillors and policemen. The BBC takes the lions share, with a staggering 437 staff out there - not counting Huw Edwards.
39 police from the Met are on a fact-finding tour in Beijing. Dorset Police has four, finding out how to police the sailing event. Greenwich council is sending six officials at a cost of £14,000.
Brown is due to arrive tomorrow (or is it today in Beijing?), with a staff of 20. His department of culture, media and sport is sending 13 and other government departments another 11.
The politically unbiased Telegraph reports the Conservatives are sending just two, paid for out of party funds.
It's shaping up to be one big jolly - let's hope we win something.
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