Britain’s problem isn’t too few ministers, it’s too much government Opinion A little scrutinised bill will allow the government to put even more ministers on the payroll, laments Eliot Wilson Yesterday, behind the impenetrable shield of public indifference, the House of Commons will take all stages of the Ministerial Salaries (Amendment) Bill. It was introduced without fanfare on Thursday 5 March and received the ritual First [...]
Reeves’ £1.2bn consultancy savings plan in doubt, watchdog warns Prof Services Despite Rachel Reeves’ focus on cutting government spending on external consultancy services, a damning report stated that the government is unable to set meaningful targets to reduce its reliance on external firms. The UK government has said it wants to put an immediate stop to all non-essential consultancy spending and halve consultancy spending in future [...]
Antonia Romeo appointed civil service boss Politics Sir Keir Starmer has appointed Dame Antonia Romeo to be the first female cabinet secretary to lead the civil service, as part of a reshuffle of the government’s top team. The new civil service chief is currently the most senior civil servant at the Home Office, and was a leading contender for the role when [...]
Sarwar says Starmer welcome on campaign trail despite resignation call February 15, 2026 Anas Sarwar has said Keir Starmer would be welcome to join Scottish Labour’s Holyrood campaign, despite having urged him to resign as prime minister only days earlier. The Scottish Labour leader reiterated on Sunday that he stood by his call for a change of leadership in Downing Street, arguing there had been “too many mistakes” [...]
Reeves vows to halve consultancy bill, but government can’t track its spending November 21, 2025 Despite the government setting an ambitious target to halve overall spending on consultants, a new report suggests, the lack of consistent data hinders efforts to track progress toward spending targets. Rachel Reeves has set targets to halve the UK government’s overall spending on consultants in 2025-26 and to save £550m in 2024-25, aiming for £700m [...]
Prime Ministers deserve a nicer house and we deserve better government November 18, 2025 The nerve centre of the British state, 10 Downing Street, is fantastically ill-suited to the needs of a modern Prime Minister and to the interests of the country. An excellent piece by Politico last week lifted the lid on what it’s actually like to work in this rather dilapidated Georgian townhouse, with one former No [...]
Rayner out: What is happen next for Labour’s cabinet? September 5, 2025 Following Angela Rayner’s resignation from her roles as deputy prime minister, housing secretary, and deputy leader of the Labour Party, what are the following steps to replace her? Rayner admitted to having underpaid stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside flat in Hove, and referred herself to the ethics watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus on Wednesday. On Friday, [...]
Government consultants pledge under threat as spending jumps July 22, 2025 Government spending on management consultants rose by over £150m during Labour’s first year in office, despite the party’s manifesto pledge to halve the amount departments dish out to third party advisers, City AM can reveal. Total spending on management consultancy contracts totalled £1.44bn during the first 12 months of the government’s four-year term, up from [...]
Welfare: Starmer’s authority shattered as Reeves faces £5bn headache July 2, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer has suffered a devastating hit to his authority whilst a £5bn spending headache looms for Rachel Reeves following the government’s u-turn to avoid a catastrophic defeat of its welfare bill. Just days away from his one year anniversary in Downing Street, the PM faced the most substantial backbench rebellion of his premiership [...]
Labour’s regional growth plan sees 12,000 civil servants moved outside London May 14, 2025 The government is on a mission to relocate 12,000 civil servant jobs across the UK to save taxpayers money — to the tune of £94m a year by 2032. Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden told the BBC this morning he hopes relocating civil servants “will make this government one that better reflects the country it [...]