The Taxpayers’ Alliance have revealed that in 2022-23, twenty leading civil servants had an average pension pot of £1.1 million, a combined amount worth £21 million. Currently, the lifetime pension pot allowance is set at £1,073,100…

Matthew Rycroft, permanent secretary at the Home Office had the largest accrued pension of £102,500, despite the fact he’s been the one to oversee the surge in illegal channel crossings. Sir Philip Barton, permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, had a pension pot worth over £2,016,000. The retirement pension for these 20 civil servants is expected to average £65,921, double the amount the average gross UK private sector salary in 2023. Nice work if you can get it…

The Foreign Affairs Committee’s report into the withdrawal of Afghanistan is absolutely scathing. Led by Tom Tugendhat, the report slams the Foreign Office for “systemic failures of intelligence, diplomacy, planning and preparation”, which “cost lives” and will “damage the UK’s interests for years to come“. Easy reading for Dominic Raab…

Given Raab’s already been taken off the Foreign Office brief, however, the man who bears the brunt of the criticism while still in situ is the Permanent Under-Secretary Sir Philip Barton. In no uncertain terms, the Committee tells Barton he should pack his bags:

“The fact the Foreign Office’s senior leaders were on holiday when Kabul fell marks a fundamental lack of seriousness, grip or leadership at a time of national emergency… The committee has lost confidence in the ­Permanent Under-Secretary, who should consider his position.”

Tugendhat himself also laid into Barton, saying he’s “let the side down” and should go:

“The absence of the top leadership, ministerial and official, when Kabul fell is a grave indictment on those ­supposedly in charge… we don’t have confidence in him. It’s up to the government whether they keep him…”

This morning Tugendhat appeared on Sky News to discuss the findings, and at one point even got emotional over the handling of the evacuation. Looks like Barton might end up taking a more permanent holiday fairly soon…