Holiday! Celebrate!

A rather large number of our political parasites appear to have taken Madonna's advice to heart, according to the Telegraph and Sky:

The Government has come under fire over the number of public servants travelling to the Beijing Olympics at a reported £7m cost.

Gordon Brown, who is flying out to attend the closing ceremony, will be accompanied by 20 aides at a cost of £114,000, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Many bodies involved in organising the 2012 London games are sending representatives.

London mayor Boris Johnson is taking 13 staff at a reported £167,000, while the London Development Agency has spent £3m to hire out a private members' club in Beijing for the duration of the Games.

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, Sport Minister Gerry Sutcliffe and 10 officials from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will attend the Games at a £75,000 cost.

Another 11 Whitehall ministers and officials will visit China, the newspaper said.

Why can't they sit and watch it at home like everyone else? We know that the TV coverage will be top notch, as the BBC are sending 437 staff out to provide coverage -- also at our expense...