I had a busy year

Oh, dear! I have been so busy lately, I have forgotten to blog. Now the riff-raff are blogging too, I had better start plugging myself again.

Last year was very exciting. It looked as though I could dump Grandpa Munster, my front man, back in the spring. His team had made a multi-million pound blunder on a big project, but he managed to make the hired help carry the can in the end. Anyway, I hold the purse strings, so I have the real power.

I managed to do some more first-hand research on luxury tourism. We are trying to drum up trade in the Far East. The Economic Development Minister is a friend of mine, so I blagged a place on his junket. I have had enough of India now, so when I won another holiday there, I gave it away as a publicity stunt.

I had a bit of a shock at the end of the year. Getting out of my box and doing blue-sky thinking did not really work for me. But I thought I could rely on the old standby of putting up duties on alcohol and tobacco. They voted against it though. Every cloud has a silver lining, however. Now I can make all the cuts I like and blame the others for not letting me have the money.

We are going to get rid of £50 million worth to begin with. Of course, by the time I have bought everyone off with special funding for their pet projects and causes it will be more like £ 15 million. But it is a start. And then the lean, mean state will need a lean, mean leader. Who else but myself of course.