OPINION

       Rachel Reeves' days in the office are numbered (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

       Rachel Reeves’ days as Chancellor look numbered after her Spring Statement went down like a lead balloon among her MPs. Coming so soon after the disastrous flop of her Budget last autumn, the pressure on her now after this second fiasco will become irresistible, especially when the welfare cuts and tax hikes kick in. To misquote the famous lines of Lady Bracknell from Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest, “to make a hash of one financial statement may be regarded as a misfortune. To make a mess of both looks like carelessness”.

       But even if her execution of policies was abysmal, her instincts were often correct, as in her call for significant efficiency savings in Whitehall. Having expanded its workforce remorselessly over the last decade, with the headcount rising from 384,000 in 2016 to 545,000 now, the civil service is ripe for some drastic pruning. When Reeves spoke of Whitehall cuts last weekend, Mike Clancy of the trade union Prospect responded with a note of sanctimony: “The Government should remember that a cheaper civil service is not the same as a better civil service.” But the converse is also true: “An expensive civil service is not the same as an effective civil service.”

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       Rachel Reeves warned of ￡15bn black hole as shocking welfare spending exposed

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       Rachel Reeves warned of ￡15bn black hole as shocking welfare spending exposed

       25 Comments

       What time is Chancellor Rachel Reeves' spring statement? Speech and policies to expect

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       Keir Starmer's nine-word question to Rachel Reeves revealed by lip reader

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       Fury as MPs get ￡2,558 pay rise as Rachel Reeves brings in brutal spending cuts

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       What will happen to Cash ISAs in Rachel Reeves spring statement?

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       GMB's Kate Garraway sparks fury as she clashes with Mel Stride over Reeves takedown

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       Rachel Reeves warned tax hike bombshell could hit Britons in autumn

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       Rachel Reeves has one last chance to pull Britain back from total despair

       25 Comments

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       Rachel Reeves's popularity crashes to Kwasi Kwarteng levels after 'reckless' spring Budget

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       Rachel Reeves eyes pensions and savings in potential new tax raid

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       Huge blow for 4m Brits as Rachel Reeves drags them into paying higher tax

       218 Comments

       'Out of touch!' Moment Labour minister is silenced in fiery BBC Breakfast clash

       123 Comments

       Rachel Reeves has left UK on a fiscal knife edge - autumn Budget will be brutal

       40 Comments

       I watched Rachel Reeves's Budget - one thing stood out like a sore thumb

       421 Comments

       Rachel Reeves faces six-month deadline to revive economy or risk losing her job

       105 Comments

       Halifax issues 'emergency fund' update to customers after Rachel Reeves welfare cuts

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       Rachel Reeves breaks silence after Donald Trump slaps 25% tariff on UK cars

       274 Comments

       Civil servants given ‘gadget limit' after taxpayer splurge on iPads

       11 Comments

       Rachel Reeves warned of ￡15bn black hole as shocking welfare spending exposed

       25 Comments

       What time is Chancellor Rachel Reeves' spring statement? Speech and policies to expect

       Comments

       Keir Starmer's nine-word question to Rachel Reeves revealed by lip reader

       298 Comments

       Fury as MPs get ￡2,558 pay rise as Rachel Reeves brings in brutal spending cuts

       82 Comments

       What will happen to Cash ISAs in Rachel Reeves spring statement?

       45 Comments

       GMB's Kate Garraway sparks fury as she clashes with Mel Stride over Reeves takedown

       12 Comments

       Rachel Reeves warned tax hike bombshell could hit Britons in autumn

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       British author George Orwell (Image: Getty Images)

       That is all too obvious from the sorry state of much of the public sector where absenteeism is rife, productivity low, waste chronic and duplication endemic. As the Chancellor argued, there are far too many staff employed in back office functions, including 33,000 in policy, 14,420 in human resources, and 7,000 in communications. If most of those staff left their jobs tomorrow, the public would hardly notice.

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       As a pallid Ulsterman who tends to wear boots even at the height of summer, I have never embraced the sandal. The great writer George Orwell had the same suspicion of such footwear, warning that “the mere words socialism and communism draw towards them with magnetic force every fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex maniac, Quaker, quack, pacifist and feminist in England”.

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       So Orwell would have been as dismayed as I was to learn this week that the Office of National Statistics has added men’s sandals to the official basket of goods that is used to decide the rate of inflation. The triumph of open-toed masculinity is as frightening as anything he wrote in 1984.

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       I was amazed to learn this week that the dreary children’s TV show Blue Peter is still broadcast live by the BBC. But, thankfully, not for much longer, as it is about to disappear into the twilight zone of online video coverage. Good riddance. I always loathed the programme, even as a child. It was woke before wokery was invented, as dull as it was condescending. It appealed to goody-goodies who were into recycling and walking holidays in the Pennines.

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       Rachel Reeves warned of ￡15bn black hole as shocking welfare spending exposed

       25 Comments

       What time is Chancellor Rachel Reeves' spring statement? Speech and policies to expect

       Comments

       Keir Starmer's nine-word question to Rachel Reeves revealed by lip reader

       298 Comments

       Fury as MPs get ￡2,558 pay rise as Rachel Reeves brings in brutal spending cuts

       82 Comments

       What will happen to Cash ISAs in Rachel Reeves spring statement?

       45 Comments

       GMB's Kate Garraway sparks fury as she clashes with Mel Stride over Reeves takedown

       12 Comments

       Rachel Reeves warned tax hike bombshell could hit Britons in autumn

       7 Comments

       Rachel Reeves has one last chance to pull Britain back from total despair

       25 Comments

       Rachel Reeves's popularity crashes to Kwasi Kwarteng levels after 'reckless' spring Budget

       66 Comments

       Employers' key pension move to avoid NI hike as Brits urged to 'take pay cut'

       Comments

       Rachel Reeves eyes pensions and savings in potential new tax raid

       3 Comments

       Jeremy Clarkson blames 'awful' Rachel Reeves after unfortunate pub news

       4 Comments

       Huge blow for 4m Brits as Rachel Reeves drags them into paying higher tax

       218 Comments

       'Out of touch!' Moment Labour minister is silenced in fiery BBC Breakfast clash

       123 Comments

       Rachel Reeves has left UK on a fiscal knife edge - autumn Budget will be brutal

       40 Comments

       I watched Rachel Reeves's Budget - one thing stood out like a sore thumb

       421 Comments

       Rachel Reeves faces six-month deadline to revive economy or risk losing her job

       105 Comments

       Halifax issues 'emergency fund' update to customers after Rachel Reeves welfare cuts

       Comments

       Rachel Reeves breaks silence after Donald Trump slaps 25% tariff on UK cars

       274 Comments

       Civil servants given ‘gadget limit' after taxpayer splurge on iPads

       11 Comments

       Rachel Reeves warned of ￡15bn black hole as shocking welfare spending exposed

       25 Comments

       What time is Chancellor Rachel Reeves' spring statement? Speech and policies to expect

       Comments

       Keir Starmer's nine-word question to Rachel Reeves revealed by lip reader

       298 Comments

       Fury as MPs get ￡2,558 pay rise as Rachel Reeves brings in brutal spending cuts

       82 Comments

       What will happen to Cash ISAs in Rachel Reeves spring statement?

       45 Comments

       GMB's Kate Garraway sparks fury as she clashes with Mel Stride over Reeves takedown

       12 Comments

       Rachel Reeves warned tax hike bombshell could hit Britons in autumn

       7 Comments

       Rachel Reeves has one last chance to pull Britain back from total despair

       25 Comments

       Rachel Reeves's popularity crashes to Kwasi Kwarteng levels after 'reckless' spring Budget

       66 Comments

       Employers' key pension move to avoid NI hike as Brits urged to 'take pay cut'

       Comments

       Rachel Reeves eyes pensions and savings in potential new tax raid

       3 Comments

       Jeremy Clarkson blames 'awful' Rachel Reeves after unfortunate pub news

       4 Comments

       Huge blow for 4m Brits as Rachel Reeves drags them into paying higher tax

       218 Comments

       'Out of touch!' Moment Labour minister is silenced in fiery BBC Breakfast clash

       123 Comments

       Rachel Reeves has left UK on a fiscal knife edge - autumn Budget will be brutal

       40 Comments

       I watched Rachel Reeves's Budget - one thing stood out like a sore thumb

       421 Comments

       Rachel Reeves faces six-month deadline to revive economy or risk losing her job

       105 Comments

       Halifax issues 'emergency fund' update to customers after Rachel Reeves welfare cuts

       Comments

       Rachel Reeves breaks silence after Donald Trump slaps 25% tariff on UK cars

       274 Comments

       Civil servants given ‘gadget limit' after taxpayer splurge on iPads

       11 Comments

       Rachel Reeves warned of ￡15bn black hole as shocking welfare spending exposed

       25 Comments

       What time is Chancellor Rachel Reeves' spring statement? Speech and policies to expect

       Comments

       Keir Starmer's nine-word question to Rachel Reeves revealed by lip reader

       298 Comments

       Fury as MPs get ￡2,558 pay rise as Rachel Reeves brings in brutal spending cuts

       82 Comments

       What will happen to Cash ISAs in Rachel Reeves spring statement?

       45 Comments

       GMB's Kate Garraway sparks fury as she clashes with Mel Stride over Reeves takedown

       12 Comments

       Rachel Reeves warned tax hike bombshell could hit Britons in autumn

       7 Comments

       Exactly 50 years ago, a sad milestone was reached in the demise of Britain’s last home-grown volume car maker. In April 1975, the businessman and government advisor Sir Don Ryder produced his ground-breaking report on the future of the troubled giant British Leyland.

       In accordance with his proposal, Leyland was nationalised by the Labour Government, but that did nothing to arrest its decline, which was epitomised by dire industrial relations and even worse models. Cars like the Austin Allegro and the Morris Marina, widely regarded as among the worst types ever to come off a production line, were symbolic of the collapse in standards of a once great British industry.