Spending waste claims condemned

The TaxPayers’ Alliance, which campaigns for lower taxes, said it believed that one in every six pounds of public spending was unwarranted.

Offices left empty, an aborted TV series, lost military spares, unused Olympics hotel rooms and a whisky tasting event were among the bills it criticised.

But around a fifth of the total “waste” was identified as the “£22.5bn cost to taxpayers of overpaying on public sector pay and pensions compared to the private sector”. Other significant factors also included £8.9bn in extra housing benefit and £2.3bn spent on “income-related benefits going to the richest fifth of households”.

The calculations drew strong criticism from TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady.

“These made-up numbers are based on extreme views such as every nurse is overpaid and that people who have worked hard and paid into the system should not get benefits,” she said.

“It’s a spectacular own goal.”