11 h. ago David Lammy 'names rapist Bill Cosby as his childhood role model'

In a video for civil servants marking International Men's Day, Deputy PM and Justice Secretary Mr Lammy is believed to have been asked who he looked up to most when younger.

Politics

13 h. ago 'Millionaire mandarins' revealed: the senior civil servants with as much as £2.5 MILLION to look forward to in taxpayer

Britain's top civil servants are in line for taxpayer-funded pension pots worth an average £1.3million, as private sector workers trying to save for retirement face a tax raid in the Budget.

Economics

26 h. ago Rachel Reeves' life from 'girlie swot' to famous sister and rarely

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has two children with her husband Nicholas Joicey, who is a senior civil servant, and has previously spoken about the challenges of being a working mum

Politics

36 h. ago Taxpayers still shell out for civil servants to go on Pride rallies

Official figures show that the Cabinet Office paid £3,244 to four different organisers of LGBTQ+ events across Britain this year so that groups of government employees could join in.

Economics

4 d. ago Transgender civil servants can STILL use toilets of their choice because Government has not scrapped outdated rules, women's rights campaigners say

Transgender civil servants are still being allowed to use the toilets they want because the Government has not yet scrapped its outdated rules, it has been claimed.

Politics

6 d. ago MI5 names two people in alert to MPs and peers about Chinese espionage

Spy agency says Amanda Qui and Shirly Shen have been using LinkedIn to ‘obtain non-public and insider insights’MI5 has issued an espionage alert to MPs and peers warning that two people linked to the Chinese intelligence service are actively seeking to recruit parliamentarians.The two people, who operate as headhunters on the LinkedIn professional networking website aiming to obtain “non-public and insider insights”, MI5 said, are also targeting economists, thinktank staff and civil servants for their access to politicians. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Armed Forces have 'too many' Senior Officers as figures reveal numbers outrank the amount of tanks, combat aircraft and warships combined

MoD data shows that there are 211 General Officers in the Army, 135 Admirals and Flag Officers in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, and 126 Air Officers of Air Rank in the Royal Air Force

Events

1 week ago ‘She was extremely petrified’: the shocking drama about one woman’s six

When dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was imprisoned, her husband went on hunger strike – to force Britain to act. Narges Rashidi and Joseph Fiennes reveal how they brought their nightmare to the small screenWhen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in Iran in 2016, it wasn’t immediately obvious what had happened – but within 100 days, we had the contours of the story. Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, held a press conference. He had amassed 780,000 signatures on a petition for her release, and delivered a letter urging the same thing to former PM David Cameron. This, it transpired much later, was after murky meetings with the Foreign Office in which civil servants insisted that the best thing, both for Nazanin’s release and the safety of her parents and brother in Iran, was to lay low and let diplomacy take its course.“It was state hostage-taking,” says Joseph Fiennes, who plays Richard Ratcliffe in the BBC’s four-part drama Prisoner 951. “It clearly goes on, and innocent pe...

Events

1 week ago Angus Robertson accused of 'throwing civil servant under bus' over Historic Scotland scandal

Critics said Angus Robertson, the SNP Culture Secretary, had been ‘asleep on the job’

Politics

1 week ago Former civil servant was free to set fire and 'almost kill' ex

Nicholas Martin, 63, was on bail for assaulting his former partner, Emma, when he tampered with the device, but no-one tried to locate him for four days.

Events

2 w. ago David Lammy mocked for 'ordering civil servants' at the Ministry of Justice to call him 'Deputy Prime Minister'

Mr Lammy, whose other main job is Justice Secretary, allegedly orders Ministry of Justice (MoJ) staff to use his 'DPM' title first. Sources close to Mr Lammy denied the claim.

Politics

3 w. ago Civil servants run up £170,000 bill as they enjoy 'boozy' work trip on French Riviera... as UK households brace for steep council tax rises

Dozens of officials spent three days in the sun at the annual Mipim real estate conference in Cannes in March.

Economics

3 w. ago Indonesia’s new capital, Nusantara, in danger of becoming a ‘ghost city’

State funding for the project has plunged, while construction has slowed and few civil servants have been eager to move away from Jakarta Indonesia’s utopian new capital Nusantara seems to appear out of nowhere. Deep in the forest, a multilane highway abruptly opens up through the trees, leading to a palace topped by a winged eagle that glows under the equatorial sun.But along the rows of futuristic new buildings, Nusantara’s boulevards are largely empty save for a few gardeners and curious tourists. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Reform UK would let ministers ignore international law, Kruger says

Party’s Doge chief says he would cut civil service and close six government offices – most of which are already closingUK politics live – latest updatesReform UK would allow ministers to ignore international law and give them the ability to fire civil servants in a Donald Trump-style overhaul of government powers, the party’s new efficiency tsar has said.Danny Kruger, who defected to Reform from the Conservatives last month, set out the party’s plans to change the way the government and civil service operate, handing more power to the cabinet. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Palestine 36 review – impassioned epic set during the Arab revolt against British colonial rule

Annemarie Jacir’s emotionally stirring drama follows a year of brutal conflict in the Middle East with a huge cast of characters caught up in the turmoilAnnemarie Jacir’s film about the Arab anti-colonial uprising in the late 1930s arrives in the UK just as the British government has declared recognition of a Palestinian state. It’s a film to compare with Michael Winterbottom’s Shoshana and Cherien Dabis’s All That’s Left of You, dramas that reopen the fraught issue of Britain’s own colonial history in Palestine.This is a heartfelt film, if rather stolidly paced and sometimes pedagogically conveyed. The cast includes such Palestinian heavyweight actors as Hiam Abbass and Saleh Bakri as passionate rebels. Jeremy Irons plays the high commissioner Sir Arthur Wauchope who presides with bland complacency over this troublesome possession. The other colonials are divided, in the traditional style, into “good British” – Billy Howle as a troubled and ineffectually pro-Arab civil servant – an...

Politics