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Mar 28, 2025 | 
civilserviceworld.com | Jim Dunton |Jordan Urban
Sue Gray has used her maiden speech in the House of Lords to warn the current government against grandstanding attacks on the civil service and ill-considered headcount cuts.
The former senior civil servant delivered a clear signal to prime minister Keir Starmer and his cabinet that politically-motivated criticism of the civil service risks damaging the delivery of government priorities.
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Feb 13, 2025 | 
civilserviceworld.com | Sophie Church |Jordan Urban
Britain’s counter-radicalisation programme Prevent is mired in confusion, a former government adviser who was once among its most prominent supporters has said.
Dame Sara Khan, previously a counter-extremism commissioner, also criticised the Home Office for failing to implement recommendations in multiple official reports on how to curb the emerging threat.
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Feb 12, 2025 | 
civilserviceworld.com | Jordan Urban |Jim Dunton
Artificial intelligence – perhaps most notably large language models (LLMs) – will change the role of policy professionals across the civil service. Policy work in Whitehall is already being augmented by tools like Redbox, which can summarise the policy recommendations in submissions and other policy documents, and Consult, which summarises and groups responses to public consultations.
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Nov 15, 2024 | 
politicshome.com | Jordan Urban |Alex Thomas |Rob Merrick
7 min read
One clear-cut trend of modern politics is that back bench MPs are becoming increasingly rebellious. How will Keir Starmer’s administration keep control of its huge majority? Rob Merrick investigates
It was “a very threatening letter,” says one rebel Labour MP who received it – a chilling warning of “privileges” snatched away because of a failure to give the party unswerving support. “It was telling us there would be punishments,” protests another.
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Nov 15, 2024 | politicshome.com | Jordan Urban |Alex Thomas |Rob Merrick
7 min read
One clear-cut trend of modern politics is that back bench MPs are becoming increasingly rebellious. How will Keir Starmer’s administration keep control of its huge majority? Rob Merrick investigates
It was “a very threatening letter,” says one rebel Labour MP who received it – a chilling warning of “privileges” snatched away because of a failure to give the party unswerving support. “It was telling us there would be punishments,” protests another.
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Nov 15, 2024 | 
civilserviceworld.com | Jim Dunton |Jordan Urban
The Cabinet Office has launched a recruitment campaign to find a new principal private secretary for prime minister Keir Starmer – just over a month after Nin Pandit was appointed to the role.
Pandit was named as the replacement for former PPS Elizabeth Perelman as part of the same Downing Street reshuffle that saw Sue Gray exit as Starmer's chief of staff at the beginning of last month.
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Nov 14, 2024 | 
politicshome.com | Jordan Urban |Alex Thomas
5 min read
Why does No 10 frequently fail to seize the political news agenda? Lee Cain, a former Downing Street director of communications, argues that wholesale structural changes are needed for prime ministers to communicate their messages effectively
Downing Street has a communications problem. After barely 100 days in power, the Prime Minister had already reset his top team after weeks of bad headlines and plummeting polls.
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Nov 14, 2024 | politicshome.com | Jordan Urban |Alex Thomas
5 min read
Why does No 10 frequently fail to seize the political news agenda? Lee Cain, a former Downing Street director of communications, argues that wholesale structural changes are needed for prime ministers to communicate their messages effectively
Downing Street has a communications problem. After barely 100 days in power, the Prime Minister had already reset his top team after weeks of bad headlines and plummeting polls.
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Nov 8, 2024 | 
politicshome.com | Matilda Martin |Jordan Urban |Alex Thomas
6 min read
Keir Starmer has faced a difficult early period in power. The Prime Minister could make his life easier by re-arranging the centre of government — it is long overdue.
Keir Starmer’s difficult start as Prime Minister does not have a single cause. Some problems have been self-inflicted – including a lack of clarity about the government’s overriding purpose and rivalry between aides. Others, including the difficult economic inheritance, are outside his control.
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Nov 8, 2024 | politicshome.com | Matilda Martin |Jordan Urban |Alex Thomas
6 min read
Keir Starmer has faced a difficult early period in power. The Prime Minister could make his life easier by re-arranging the centre of government — it is long overdue.
Keir Starmer’s difficult start as Prime Minister does not have a single cause. Some problems have been self-inflicted – including a lack of clarity about the government’s overriding purpose and rivalry between aides. Others, including the difficult economic inheritance, are outside his control.
