Despite promising efficiency savings when it came into power Labour has failed to stop the health department’s payroll spending ballooning. Wes…
Labour magnanimously promised wide cuts across all departments back in August of last year. Those include:
- Savings in departments to fund pay pressures – £3.15 billion
- of which: reduce administration budgets by 2% – £225 million
- of which: stop all non-essential spending on communications – £50 million
- of which: stop all non-essential spending on consultancy in 2024-25 – £550 million
DHSC was set to see its budget fall by £30 million too by cancelling adult social care charging reforms. You would think with all that the spend would fall at least a little bit…
Instead a written parliamentary question has confirmed that DHSC’s total paybill and staffing costs have risen by £2.5 million since the election. Labour is blaming Assisted Dying plus other policies:
“Since the General Election, the Department’s staff numbers have needed to increase to ensure the right skills and capability to deliver several of the Government’s major priorities. These include the 10-Year Health Plan, the Assisted Dying Bill, ending the longest-running pay dispute with resident doctors, publishing an elective reform plan, and publishing a new NHS Mandate, as well as ensuring we can continue to deliver vital services across the health system. During this period, payroll costs have also increased because of annual pay increases.”
So much for efficiency…
Despite Downing Street’s dedication to the Jimmy Savile attack on Farage the public thinks it’s inappropriate. Poor taste…
Peter Kyle launched the attack on the morning round last week over Farage’s concerns with regard to the Online Safety Act – it was repeated by numerous ministers the latest of which is Jess Phillips who revived it this week. Might not have been the best idea…
More in Common has polled the public who say by three-to-one that the attack was inappropriate. That includes Labour voters…
A Reform source tells Guido: “Labour clearly don’t have a clue what they’re doing or why they’re doing it any more.” By 53% to 23% Brits also think Kyle should apologise for the attack. Chance would be a fine thing…
Guido hears from DC insiders that the disastrous – and eye-wateringly costly – Chagos sellout is not fully settled Stateside. As The Heritage Foundation’s eminent Nile Gardiner wrote yesterday: “the Chagos issue is not over in Washington, and major red flags are being raised in the United States.” Now a route has emerged via which the deal could be slowed down or even scrapped…
The powerful House Appropriations Committee has now raised the issue directly with Marco Rubio. The Committee is Republican-led and is sound on Chagos. A relevant passage from the current State Department appropriations Bill states:
“United Kingdom and Chagos Archipelago —The Committee notes that with the growing challenge from the PRC the military facilities on the island of Diego Garcia are central to Anglo-American power projection and relative control of the Indian Ocean. Recognizing the invaluable strategic importance and geographic relevance of Diego Garcia to the United States, the Committee encourages the Secretary of State to engage with His Majesty’s Government of the United Kingdom to ensure our long-term access to the facilities and that they remain integral to allied security.”
(H/T @NileGardiner)
These reports have been corroborated and furthered by Guido’s high level Capitol Hill sources, who say that the deal may well be torn up by Trump. The President has been angered by recent free speech crises in the UK, which became very clear to him during his Scotland trip…
Moreover, Vice President Vance is understood to be monitoring the issue carefully. He’s in the UK this summer. Guido will have more soon…
Reform has now released the full candidates list for the upcoming Party Board Election. It’s long…
The board will be responsible for the “principal management and administrative authority of the Party” and relations with the membership. Spelt out in the party constitution…
There are 19 candidates and three spots – the rest are appointed by Farage. The top contenders according to insider chatter are well-known names Gawain Towler, Michael Heaver, Darren Grimes, and Darren Selkus. Reform’s only London Assembly member Alex Wilson is also standing…
Voting opens 14 August, and results will be announced on 22 August. In time for party conference…
Labour is refusing to publish any of the vetting documents it used for Afghans who are arriving in the UK under the ARAP scheme. As Guido revealed – at a cost of almost half a million every month…
Lord Kempsell asked a written parliamentary question of the MoD: “whether they will publish any documents about vetting or security clearance processes that were given to applicants of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.” Simple enough…
Defence minister Lord Coaker said:
“As with all those arriving to the UK, all those found eligible for ARAP have to undergo robust security checks, including for national security. If they don’t pass these checks, they are not granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
An application must first be made, by the applicant, to the Ministry of Defence, who will decide if the applicant is eligible. If they are eligible for relocation to the UK, the second stage is that the Ministry Of Defence (MOD) will on behalf of the applicant, make an application to the Home Office for entry clearance (if they are outside the UK) or settlement (if they are in the UK). Eligibility does not guarantee resettlement in the UK. Those who are eligible must first undergo checks in accordance with the UK Immigration Rules.
The MOD, as part of the first stage, sends an offer letter to Eligible Persons (EPs) which details the vetting and security process that applicants must go through to enter the UK and signposts EPs to the Government’s Immigration Rules for further guidance. Permission to enter the UK is subject to the enrolment of biometrics and security checks run by the Home Office as part of the second stage.
National security is a priority for this Government and all ARAP eligible individuals who arrive in the UK will have undergone thorough security checks.”
What co-conspirators may notice is the lack of any of the documents or details asked for. This is especially pertinent as due to the MoD leak thousands of additional Afghans were transported to the UK who would otherwise have failed formal application processes. Blocked…
The UK Government’s only specialist animal lab, which would be crucial to respond to a mass outbreak of an animal disease, is on the edge of literally falling down because of years of disrepair. Defra’s Weybridge site lab contains 98% of the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s high containment laboratories (basically the entire national capacity). Weybridge is the only Government facility in Britain equipped to deal with most ‘zoonotic’ diseases, like those that could ‘spillover’ from animals and cause another Covid…
A recent damning report from the National Audit Office found: “any major failure at Weybridge could have potentially significant impacts on the UK. For example, APHA may not be able to deliver its emergency response during an outbreak. Weybridge is in poor condition, with ageing buildings that need major repair and replacement.” It continues: “Defra increased its assessment of the risk of site failure to the highest rating (25 out of a possible 25, up from 20), and Defra’s Outbreak Readiness Board lowered its rating for the site’s capability to respond to a medium-severity outbreak. Contingency plans for a significant failure at Weybridge are limited due to the uniqueness of the site.” Yikes, so there’s no backup…
Insiders confirmed to Guido that the site is in a state of total disrepair and is essentially non-functional should it be needed in a national emergency. Good to see the lessons of Covid being learned…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”
