How else are you supposed to save money?

From The Metro:

However, health minister Mike O'Brien insisted he had rejected the McKinsey report proposals. He said the government 'does not believe' in saving money by making cuts to the workforce.

Sure, even the most bloated bureaucracy can save a few quid by bulk ordering of stationery and not engaging in ludicrous sub-contracted IT projects, but ninety per cent of the waste and overspend in government stems from the endless layers of administrators and quangos. They're the ones who should be sacked, not "frontline staff".

NB, the McKinsey report plays nicely into government hands by saying the only way to save money is to sack "frontline staff" which is a political non-starter, of course.

Re Bayard's comment: The Metro article says "the report, which was commissioned by the Department of Health..." but the BBC says "Department of Health officials invited consultants to come up with proposals for how savings could be made and McKinsey responded by proposing drastic cuts..." so it's not clear whether McKinsey did it off their own bats.