Civil service is ‘too remote’ from people’s lives across UK, says minister

The Whitehall civil service is too remote from people’s lives and needs to be “turned inside out” as part of plans to drive three of Keir Starmer’s missions from outside London, a Cabinet Office minister has said.Georgia Gould, a former leader of Camden council who had a meteoric rise after her election as a Labour MP last year, said the government’s plan to move thousands more civil service jobs out of London was not about just “having offices in places” – and Whitehall civil servants needed to be more familiar with the day-to-day problems in frontline services from health centres to family hubs.She said her job was to help close the “big gap between those doing the frontline operational roles and those who are making policies” by helping them to work together, share data and come up with new ideas about how to improve people’s lives – especially those who “fall through the cracks” of different public services.Gould told the Guardian that Whitehall working would be “turned inside out”, as the Cabinet Office announced Starmer’s health mission would be based in Leeds, its opportunity mission in Sheffield and its growth mission in Darlington, with civil servants working with local government and frontline workers to pioneer new approaches.The Cabinet Office announced in May that major Whitehall government buildings were to be shut by ministers as they seek to shed 12,000 civil servant jobs in London, while moving thousands of roles to cities across the UK

Ministers step up efforts to quell growing rebellion over UK welfare bill

The government is intensifying efforts to quell a growing rebellion over welfare cuts, with whips stepping up contact with MPs and strategists drawing up plans for a cabinet reshuffle in case of resignations.Ministers are taking a carrot-and-stick approach by laying out extra support for people who face losing their benefits, while also warning mutinous MPs of the consequences of voting against the plans.Several MPs said that whips were strengthening efforts to bring them into line after Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, sought to ease concerns by promising extra protections for vulnerable people.Some MPs say there have been suggestions that the vote on cuts could be treated as a confidence issue, with those rebelling facing suspension from the whip or even deselection. No 10 and government sources strongly denied this

Russia adviser Fiona Hill’s alarming conclusion | Letter

Fiona Hill’s assessment of the Russian threat to Britain is a classic example of how a seemingly rational argument based on a false premise and scanty evidence can lead to a mad conclusion (Russia is at war with Britain and US is no longer a reliable ally, UK adviser says, 6 June). It is especially alarming that this conclusion was reached by one of the three principal authors of the recent strategic defence review.The false premise is that Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is the first step to make Russia “a dominant military power in all of Europe”. Evidence that Britain is already under attack is provided by “the poisonings, assassinations, sabotage operations … cyber-attacks and influence operations .

Ministers to offer olive branch on welfare plans to avert Labour rebellion

Ministers are to offer mutinous Labour MPs an olive branch on the government’s welfare plans to help avert a major rebellion in a crucial vote early next month.Liz Kendall, the welfare secretary, wants to reassure angry MPs who have threatened to rebel over fears that sick and disabled people will be hardest hit.The Guardian has been told she will put “non-negotiable” protections for the most vulnerable benefits recipients on the face of the welfare reform bill when it is published next week, providing additional support to those with the most severe conditions who will never work.But with Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, ruling out a U-turn on disability benefit cuts and government aides insisting there will be no substantial change to the bill, it is unclear whether the tweaks will be enough to prevent a rebellion that could even risk a defeat.Labour MPs are demanding big changes to the proposals first put forward in March in the welfare green paper, including a rethink on eligibility for personal independence payments (Pip) for disabled people and benefits for carers

Does Labour’s spending review signal a return to austerity?

Rachel Reeves usually avoids any mention of the word “austerity” in connection with her fiscal policies, but on Wednesday, she decided to tackle the argument head on.“In this spending review, total departmental budgets will grow by 2.3% a year in real terms,” she told MPs as she announced the next stage of her spending review.“Compare that to the Conservatives’ choice of austerity … Austerity was a destructive choice for both the fabric of our society and our economy, choking off investment and demand and creating a lost decade for growth, wages and living standards.”The chancellor argues that her decision to lift departmental budgets by 2

Sadiq Khan warns ministers not to ‘pit our towns and cities against each other’

Ministers must not “stumble into the trap of pitting our towns and cities against each other”, Sadiq Khan will say, as he delivers a blistering attack on the Treasury’s decision to sideline London in this week’s spending review.In a state of London address, the capital’s mayor will urge ministers to stop treating investment as a zero-sum game between north and south – arguing that some of the worst deprivation in the country is within London’s borders.“I’ve seen first-hand how parts of our city suffer from some of the worst poverty and deprivation in the country,” he will say. “As someone who grew up on a London council estate, I know help for our communities should be based on need not geography.“A child blighted by a lack of support and opportunity in Newham or Lewisham is just as deserving as a child born into similar circumstances in Newcastle or Leeds