The Tories, spurred on former-Nazi-fanzine The Daily Mail, have criticised the number of press officers the government employs on the public purse. The Tories claim there are some 3,200 press officers employed by the state – Labour argues that many of these press officers are not just press officers, but do various other tasks such as carrying out ‘road safety and crime prevention campaigns’. (source: BBC)

Labour admits there has been an increase in the overall number of press officers since 1997, but that it is no where near the number quoted by the Conservatives.

But, as the Tories forget to mention, the media is vastly bigger than it was in 1997, and with 24-hour rolling news, online news outlets, and the blogosphere, the government must react quicker and savvier than ever before. It’s another cheap shot from a Conservative Party light on polices yet big on rhetoric.

Knowing this administration, it probably does employ too many press officers, but someone has to employ all those feckless media studies students, because the media certainly won’t - if they weren’t spinning the government line, they’d be begging on the streets. Consider it a public service.