DO WE need more government? Our county council apparently thinks so.

Hampshire county council, led by Tory Cllr  Ken Thornber, spends approximately £4.5 million a year on recruitment & press office spin: they produce glossy magazines of limited readership.

Now Cllr Thornber wants to spend a further £100,000 on setting up a third layer of local government: a so called ‘Senate’ which will be dominated by Tories and of course, Cllr Thornber will chair  the Senate.

As Lib Dem Eastleigh MP Chris Huhne has said: "This is another ludicrous extravagance from the county council that's already bro ught us proposals for a £40million office block with a picture window for the leader to survey his domain across Hampshire.

"I don't think council tax payers want to fund  another layer of government on top of the t wo we have already."