The Latest Breaking News from Whitehall

Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares huge spending cuts to prevent tax hikes as spring statement looms

Whitehall budgets could be slashed by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a blow to public services

Evening Standard · Mar 20, 2025

Ambassadors to be judged on ability to generate trade for UK, says Lammy

Foreign Secretary David Lammy will set out a series of measures aimed at helping businesses boost international trade.

Evening Standard · Mar 20, 2025

Rachel Reeves to announce biggest spending cuts 'since austerity'

Rachel Reeves is set to unveil the biggest spending cuts "since austerity" in next week's Spring Statement ...

The National (Scotland) · Mar 19, 2025

Keir Starmer’s civil service reforms: what is mission-led government and why is it so hard to achieve?

All governments, it seems, are destined to go to war with Whitehall. The administration of Keir Starmer has been in power only nine months, but there are clear indications ministers are frustrated and dissatisfied with civil service performance.

The Conversation · Mar 14, 2025

Jonathan Powell: the veteran negotiator being lauded over US-Ukraine detente

UK national security adviser may prefer to work behind the scenes but he found himself in the limelight this week

The Guardian - UK · Mar 14, 2025

Release of technology secretary’s use of ChatGPT will have Whitehall sweating

Use of Freedom of Information Act to reveal Peter Kyle’s ChatGPT queries has shocked experts and left journalists wondering what to request next

The Guardian - UK · Mar 13, 2025

UK PM says AI should soon replace civil servants

Sir Kier Starmer believes that AI can do some Whitehall jobs better than human workers.

TechRadar · Mar 13, 2025

Though Starmer’s project is fragile, he’s taking one giant leap: to reconfigure the British state

Headlines about Whitehall cuts obscure the real intent. The PM wants effective, dynamic administration that voters will believe in, says Guardian columnist Martin Kettle

The Guardian - UK · Mar 13, 2025

Starmer vows to fight ‘flabby state’ with root and branch reform of civil service

At a speech on Thursday the prime minister will say that jobs should not exist if artificial intelligence or computers can do them better

The Independent UK · Mar 12, 2025

AI should replace some work of civil servants, Starmer to announce

The new digital ‘mantra’ prompts unions to warn PM to stop blaming problems on Whitehall officials

The Guardian - UK · Mar 12, 2025