My View - The Sun Friday June 11th
Friday 11th June 2010
Scots Dragon and Sun Columnist Shaf Rasul said: "The legacy of the last government is a bloated and overburdened public sector that has become a major liability to the taxpayer.
"Major cuts in public spending and tax hikes by the new Chancellor George Osborne are inevitable and frankly needed to ensure that we begin to tackle the debt that is strangling our ability to break out of the economic downturn.
"There is going to be a lot of pain for families across Scotland as the cuts bring job losses across a public sector that currently employs one in four Scots.
"It's therefore vital that government strips out all waste and stops spending tax payers' cash on public sector non-jobs, obscene expense accounts, five-figure golden goodbye handshakes, faceless quangos and needless re-branding exercises that fail to deliver any value to public welfare and service.
"I was absolutely astounded and angry earlier this year when the Skills Development Scotland Agency paid celebrity hypnotist Paul McKenna £20,000 to give a motivational talk to youngsters on how to get back into work.
"I would have done it for nothing and would have worked with like minded Scottish business leaders to deliver a practical hands-on event that would have made the youngsters acutely aware of what they need to do to get a job.
"As public sector cuts start to take effect it's also vital that funding and resources are directed towards encouraging business start-up activity - it's the private sector which will create wealth, absorb the public sector job losses and support the country's recovery."