Plan to axe 91,000 civil servants ‘only possible with cuts to services’

A Whitehall source was quoted as suggesting that a figure of £2bn had been mooted as the cost of compulsory redundancy payments. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

Doubts have been cast on claims by Boris Johnson that it will be possible to go ahead with plans to axe 91,000 civil servants “without harming” frontline services.

The prime minister wrote in May to civil servants justifying plans for a reduction in headcount of almost 20%, saying the government must reduce its costs “just as many families are doing”.