Guiding light

You could forgive prime minister David Cameron for hoping for a breather when parliament breaks up in 11 days time.

After all, if strikes, mounting public debt and the European economic crisis aren’t enough to send you head first into a family-sized tin of Quality Street in front of All Star Family Fortunes, then what is?

His pensions secretary has other ideas. So impressed is Iain Duncan Smith with Family Futures, the latest magnus opus from London School of Economics housing guru professor Anne Power, he thinks it could teach the PM a thing or two about tackling poverty.

‘It really is an excellent book,’ he told an audience at the LSE last week. ‘I’ll put it on the reading list for the prime minister over Christmas - and I’ll test him on it when he comes back.’

Family Futures, not Family Fortunes, it is then.

Could Whitehall austerity measures help reverse the fading fortunes of Marks & Spencer?

The high street giant recently reported an 8 per cent slump in profits, but Closed Circuit has learned that staff at the Communities and Local
Government department can’t get enough of their local store in London’s Victoria.

Cutbacks have seen all taxpayer-funded refreshments banned, except for marathon meetings lasting at least four hours and at which a visitor is present.

‘M&S is doing very well as a result,’ reports one worker. ‘The bite-size buckets are a particular favourite.’

As the festive season draws near, Closed Circuit thought it was timely to bring you a tale from Christmas past.

One afternoon, back in his salad days at Bradford Council, current communities secretary Eric Pickles apparently got wind of some of his staff knocking off early to sink a few sharpeners down the local.

Rightly concerned about this flagrant waste of taxpayers’ money, he promptly scheduled a meeting back at the office for 4pm.

A public servant to the end, the fact that it was Christmas Eve was, it seems, of little concern.