Boris Johnson set for showdown over Whitehall job cuts
PM orders civil service ‘bloodbath’ to ease cost-of-living crisis
Boris Johnson is heading for a stand-off with the civil service after ordering ministers to slash the size of Whitehall by a fifth to free up billions for tax cuts.
The prime minister yesterday used a “cost-of-living” cabinet away day in the Midlands to demand that his senior ministers “redouble their efforts to ease the financial pressure on struggling families” by cutting up to 90,000 civil service jobs, the Daily Mail reported.
Johnson told the paper that Whitehall had become “swollen” during the pandemic, adding: “We have got to cut the cost of government to reduce the cost of living.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
‘Boris vs blob’
Addressing ministers during the meeting in Stoke-on-Trent, Johnson said that taking action to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis must be at the “forefront” of all government work, according to The Sun’s deputy political editor Kate Ferguson.
She added that the PM told his cabinet colleagues: “I wake up every day thinking about what we can do to help people through this period, just as we helped people through Covid.”
Slashing the size and scale of the civil service has been a long-standing aim for the prime minister since his election in 2019. His former right-hand man Dominic Cummings has previously labelled Whitehall “the blob” in a dig at its size, Ferguson said.
ITV News’s deputy political editor Anushka Asthana last night tweeted details of a letter sent by Cabinet Secretary Simon Case that set out plans to reduce the size of the civil service to 2016 levels within three years. This, Asthana said, would entail around 91,000 job losses.
Ministers are understood to have been given one month to devise a plan to cut staff numbers in a move that could “save about £3.5 billion a year”, the Daily Mail reported, “freeing up resources to help ease the cost of living”.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the minister for Brexit opportunities and government efficiency, this morning defended the plan, telling Sky News: “I know it sounds eye-catching but it’s just getting back to the civil service we had in 2016.
“Since then we’ve had to take on people for specific tasks. So dealing with the aftermath of Brexit and dealing with Covid, there’s been a reason for that increase, but we’re now trying to get back to normal.”
Storm brewing
The prime minister last night told the Daily Mail that the savings will be funnelled directly into tax cuts, saying: “Every pound the government pre-empts from the taxpayer is money they can spend on their own priorities, on their own lives.”
But the jobs “bloodbath” has put the government on a “collision course” with the civil service’s “powerful” unions, the paper added.
FDA general secretary Dave Penman said that if the PM decides to go through with job cuts, he will also have to choose “what the reduced civil service will no longer have the capacity to do”. This could affect services such as passports, border control or health.
“Without an accompanying strategy, these cuts appear more like a continuation of the government’s civil service culture wars – or even worse, ill-thought out, rushed job slashes that won’t lead to a more cost-effective government,” he added.
Labour also attacked the plans, arguing that the government is pursuing “pointless rhetoric” while displaying a “lack of action” when it comes to implementing an emergency budget to offer more support to people struggling with bills.
Alex Thomas, an expert on policymaking and the civil service at the Institute for Government think-tank, tweeted a warning that 90,000 job cuts cannot be achieved by only cutting “back office” roles.
“Don’t believe anyone who says 90,000 can be delivered with efficiencies alone,” he warned. “Ministers must prioritise if they want to avoid spreading resource too thinly and failing in their policy plans.”
He also added that plans to reduce the size of the civil service through a “recruitment freeze” are “crude”, saying: “It means cuts hit randomly. And it’s hard to move resources around the civil service – people have different skills, experience and contracts.”
The move shows Johnson “attempting to wrest the agenda away from COVID law-breaking”, said Politico’s Alex Wickham, providing the PM with a much-needed respite after the Metropolitan Police last night announced a further 50 fixed penalty notices for rule-breaking in Downing Street.
But it has set up “a major showdown with the civil service”, he added.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Will Aukus pact survive a second Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question US, UK and Australia seek to expand 'game-changer' defence partnership ahead of Republican's possible return to White House
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Can Boris Johnson save Rishi Sunak?
Today's Big Question Former PM could 'make the difference' between losing the next election and annihilation
By The Week UK Published
-
It's the economy, Sunak: has 'Rishession' halted Tory fightback?
Today's Big Question PM's pledge to deliver economic growth is 'in tatters' as stagnation and falling living standards threaten Tory election wipeout
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why your local council may be going bust
The Explainer Across England, local councils are suffering from grave financial problems
By The Week UK Published
-
Rishi Sunak and the right-wing press: heading for divorce?
Talking Point The Telegraph launches 'assault' on PM just as many Tory MPs are contemplating losing their seats
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
How the biggest election year in history might play out
The Explainer Votes in world's biggest democracies, as well as its most 'despotic' and 'stressed' countries, face threats of violence and suppression
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published