Letters From A Tory Daily views on British politics and the Conservative Party from a centre-right thinker who writes letters on his blog to politicians, journalists and many others.

“I would take a lot of persuading to be convinced that such services represent the best use of the taxpayers’ dollar.”

- Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia, who has questioned why taxpayers are funding weight loss courses for their civil servants. Official documents released this week showed the government was paying AU$30,000 (US$22,800) to provide weight loss classes for bureaucrats from employment agency Centrelink. They also revealed it paid a similar amount in Weight Watchers sessions for Defence Department workers in 2007, listing them as part of the department’s “education and training” services. In the face of falling popularity, Rudd said last week he would get tough on spending after unveiling a record AU$58 billion (US$44.1 billion), while the country’s economy is not expected to return to surplus for at least another six years.