Redwood finds his voice

1. Introducing an immediate freeze on all civil service and quango recruitment, seeking to replace leavers from within the swollen ranks of employees. Only if a Minister agreed a special case should external recruitment be permitted. This would not apply to front line personnel in the armed forces or police, nor to teachers and social service staff recruited by local government.

2. Review all central and quango computerisation projects with a view to coming up with total savings of at least 20%.

3. Cancel large projects like the ID computer scheme.

4. Place a ban on all new consultancy contracts throughout central government, unless Treasury special permission is granted for a new one.

5. Reduce the advertising and communications budget by 20%.

6. Put in place proper banking controls over the Northern Rock lending and begin to obtain repayment of money advanced.

7. Implementing the new tougher approach to benefits to those who are out of work, withdrawing them where a person has turned down the offer of a job.

8. Announcing a freeze on the total annual allowances that MPs can claim for the rest of this Parliament.

9. Implementing green measures throughout the government estate to cut energy bills - better heating controls, better insulation, systems to turn lights and heating off when buildings not in use etc.

10. Producing a plan to cut the size of the property estate in line with falling staff numbers as the staff freeze starts to bite.

Only number seven is cast-iron Nasty Tory. The rest of it is in keeping with Redwood entire blog manner - including the relaxed, sun-tanned open-shirt picture at the top. Could Redwood get back into the Shadow Cabinet on the strength of stuff like this? And hasn't he got better things to do on a Sunday? Come to think of it, haven't we?