Brown Whitehall job cuts 'just an illusion'

Gordon Brown's promise to slash £21 billion in Government waste is based on "myth not reality", the Tories claimed today.

The Chancellor also came under fire from business after a poll found Whitehall was pushing up the cost of public-private deals because of poor practices.

Shadow Chancellor Oliver Letwin claimed plans to cut 84,000 civil service jobs were "illusory" because most people would be given fresh posts with a different title.

He said some 30,000 of Mr Brown's job cuts involved staff being "re-allocated" instead of being made redundant.

Mr Letwin also said the Government's promise to redirect resources to the front line was fake" because most of the 500,000 jobs created by Labour since 1997 went to bureaucrats.

The Conservatives warned they would challenge every aspect of the review of Whitehall waste by Sir Peter Gershon.

The Tories claim the Treasury failed to detail the bulk of the ?21 billion savings recommended by Sir Peter and point out most of the money would come not from job cuts but from changes in the way Government buys goods and services.

The Treasury rejected the claims and said the Conservatives' figures failed to add up.