39 h. ago UK cracks down on civil service credit cards after spending quadruples

Officials will have to reapply for procurement cards as part of war on waste in Whitehall

Politics

3 d. ago It is mission critical that Labour repairs the contract between citizen and state | Andrew Rawnsley

Proving that government can be a force for good is essential if Sir Keir Starmer is to see off the populist rightListening to Sir Keir Starmer’s recent lament that the “flabby” state is failing Britain was to experience deja vu all over again. More than a quarter of a century has passed since another Labour prime minister, one Tony Blair, vented his frustration with the public sector by complaining that trying to reform government had left him with “scars on my back”. In similar vein, David Cameron’s lot used to excuse their struggles to get stuff done by blaming resistance from the amorphous administrative “Blob”. Dominic Cummings told Boris Johnson that the solution was to pack Number 10 with “weirdos”, “misfits” and “wild cards” – a self-description if ever there was one – while purging the senior civil service. He was still working his way through his “shit list” of mandarins when he got the boot himself. You will not recall the Johnson administration as an able and stable outfi...

Events

4 d. ago Blockers, checkers, bats and chainsaws: don’t talk like Musk, Starmer is warned

PM has been urged to ‘get a grip’ on messaging after railing against the ‘flabby’ state and the civil service’s ‘tepid bath’Keir Starmer has been warned against adopting the language of Elon Musk after railing against “blockers and checkers” and the “flabby” civil service this week.Gus O’Donnell, the former cabinet secretary, was one of those urging the prime minister to “get a grip” on his messaging, telling the Institute for Government podcast: “My God, he has mishandled the communications on this terribly.” Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago The UK government embracing AI? I’m sorry, that’s nonsense and I can prove it | Chris Stokel

My freedom of information request revealed the inane use of ChatGPT by the tech secretary. Is this the future? I hope notTwo tech-related things made me laugh this week. One was Donald Trump’s childlike exuberance at seeing the dash panel of a Tesla on the White House lawn, and his wondrous exclamation that “everything is computer”.The other was equally hilarious, also tied to politics. Keir Starmer stood up yesterday in Hull and said waste would be thrown by the wayside and the civil service would lose its bloat thanks to the transformative effects of AI. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago As Keir targets the 'flabby' civil service... it's revealed an official was TRIPLE

A new fraud report published by the Cabinet Office detailed how the individual had twice held three roles in three Whitehall departments.

Politics

5 d. ago Which quango is next for Labour's 'bonfire'? The bodies controlling £350bn of public money and 400,000 staff that could be at risk from Starmer's new

NHS England is being merged back into the Department of Health, with ministers arguing that more than 9,000 jobs can be cut by removing 'duplication'.

Events

5 d. ago Ten thousand jobs to be axed as NHS England is abolished by Starmer in war on the 'flabby, unfocused and over

Keir Starmer used a speech to deliver a damning verdict on the performance of the public sector, saying huge expansion in numbers had not worked.

Events

6 d. ago Starmer insists ‘there’s no return to austerity’ despite benefits and civil service cuts

The government has axed NHS England and is expected to unveil billions of pounds of cuts to benefit spending

Politics

6 d. ago NHS England abolition shows ‘we have to take difficult decisions’, says Starmer – UK politics live

PM says he is ‘bringing management of the NHS back into democratic control by abolishing the arms length body NHS England’Starmer is now talking about regulatation, and giving examples of where he thinks it has gone too far.l give you an example. There’s a office conversion in Bingley, which, as you know, is in Yorkshire. That is an office conversion that will create 139 homes.But now the future of that is uncertain because the regulator was not properly consulted on the power of cricket balls. That’s 139 homes. Now just think of the people, the families, the individuals who want those homes to buy, those homes to make their life and now they’re held up. Why? You’ll decide whether this is a good reason because I’m going to quote this is the reason ‘because the ball strike assessment doesn’t appear to be undertaken by a specialist, qualified consultant’. So that’s what’s holding up these 139 homes.When we had those terrible riots what we saw then, in response, was dynamic. It was str...

Politics

6 d. ago Starmer abolishes NHS England and condemns it as the 'world's largest quango' as he declares war on the 'flabby, unfocused and over

Keir Starmer used a speech to deliver a damning verdict on the performance of the public sector, saying huge expansion in numbers had not worked.

Events

6 d. ago Starmer says 'world's largest quango' NHS England will be SCRAPPED as he condemns 'flabby, unfocused and over

Keir Starmer used a speech to deliver a damning verdict on the performance of the public sector, saying huge expansion in numbers had not worked.

Politics

6 d. ago Starmer announces NHS England will be abolished, with central government back running health service – UK politics live

PM says he is ‘bringing management of the NHS back into democratic control by abolishing the arms length body NHS England’Starmer is now talking about regulatation, and giving examples of where he thinks it has gone too far.l give you an example. There’s a office conversion in Bingley, which, as you know, is in Yorkshire. That is an office conversion that will create 139 homes.But now the future of that is uncertain because the regulator was not properly consulted on the power of cricket balls. That’s 139 homes. Now just think of the people, the families, the individuals who want those homes to buy, those homes to make their life and now they’re held up. Why? You’ll decide whether this is a good reason because I’m going to quote this is the reason ‘because the ball strike assessment doesn’t appear to be undertaken by a specialist, qualified consultant’. So that’s what’s holding up these 139 homes.When we had those terrible riots what we saw then, in response, was dynamic. It was str...

Politics

6 d. ago Keir Starmer to outline reforms of ‘overcautious, flabby state’ in civil service speech – UK politics live

PM will give a speech shortly, followed by a Q&A with the mediaThe decision not to classify Axel Rudakubana as a terrorist following the Southport murders was right because it would be unhelpful to stretch the definition of terrorism to cover all extreme violence, Jonathan Hall KC, the UK’s terror watchdog, has concluded. Rachel Hall has the story.The Times today is running a story saying that Peter Kyle, the science secretary, “has described himself as a ‘disruptor’ with similarities to Elon Musk or Dominic Cummings” because he wants to use AI to modernise the delivery of public services.I aspire to be a disruptor in a positive way that takes people with us and excites people for change.The issue about disruptors and disruption – in the past, it’s been used in a fearful way, in a threatening way, in a way that actually creates circumstances where people are fearful of change. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Starmer’s plans to shape up ‘flabby’ Civil Service could trigger union clash

Sir Keir Starmer will set out his plans for radical reform of the way the state works, placing a greater emphasis on AI and technology.

Politics

6 d. ago Britain's 'flabby' state to be reformed vows PM Keir Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer will set out plans to cut regulation and make Whitehall more efficient in a speech on Thursday

Politics

6 d. ago Starmer vows to fight ‘flabby state’ with root and branch reform of civil service

At a speech on Thursday the prime minister will say that jobs should not exist if artificial intelligence or computers can do them better

Politics

6 d. ago Keir Starmer to radically digitise the civil service using AI in bid to save £45billion

The Prime Minister will say that no person's 'substantive time' should be spent on a task where technology can 'do it better, quicker and to the same high quality and standard'.

Economics

7 d. ago Antonia Romeo named as new top civil servant at the Home Office

Dame Antonia replaces Sir Matthew Rycroft, who announced in February he would leave the Home Office after a 35-year Civil Service career.

Society

7 d. ago Downing Street rejects ‘chainsaw’ characterisation of Civil Service reforms

‘There is no approach here where we are taking a chainsaw to the system,’ the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.

Politics

9 d. ago Starmer: Civil Service reforms will ‘maximise collective power of the state’

Sir Keir Starmer has written to half a million civil servants promising to ‘transform your work for the better’.

Politics