Mind you, a little bit of belt-tightening, forcing organisations to identify ways of operating more efficiently is no bad thing.

In the same week that Waltham Forest police announced cut-backs, things are looking up for the chief executive of Waltham Forest council, who has received an inflation-busting pay rise taking his basic salary to £195,000.

To put that into some perspective, the Prime Minister earns £142,000 a year, including his MP’s salary.

As the UNISON branch secretary Dave Knight says, it shows astonishing contempt for the ‘ordinary’ employee. Can there be any possible justification for it, beyond some mumbo jumbo about pay grades and the going rate and all that? I’m struggling to think of anything.