Thursday, December 13, 2007

Ministry of Justice goes into the Christmas tree business?

There has been, for the past hour or so, a head scratching moment here. You see I read this question and answer to the Wales Office (emphasis mine) and found myself saying "WTF?".
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his Department’s policy is on the selection of (a) real and (b) artificial Christmas trees for his Department’s festive decorations; and how real trees are disposed of.

Mr. Hain: The Wales Office uses both real trees and artificial trees. Its real trees are obtained from sustainable resources, via the Ministry of Justice, which also provides the facility for disposal and recycling of the trees.
My initial thought was that Jack Straw had decided to set up a cottage industry to make a few quid on the side, but it turns out that Wales Office (and Scotland too) actually come under the remit of the Ministry of the Justice.

The Wales Office told me that essentially the budget for a Christmas tree is met by the MoJ. I'm now left wondering whether this means the "Secretary of State" at each office isn't a proper position at all and merely reports to the Lord Chancellor.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Merely more Nulab obfuscation to ensure that you cannot see the wood for the trees. [I'll get my coat now].

Anonymous said...

Fir heaven's sake!

Anonymous said...

So who sets or allocates the budgets for these two sub-offices?