Yesterday’s notorious ‘take out the trash’ day was vintage even by SW1 standards: the final Parliamentary sitting before Christmas is used to sneak out a raft of bad news. Lots of outlets pointed out the high number of ‘trash’ ministerial statements, few looked at the detail…
The row over Labour postponing local elections was revealed in Alison McGovern’s statement on Local Government Reorganisation. She admitted that the councils that may postpone elections have already started making preparations for them: how much public money will be wasted in that u-turn? The statement reveals the government is way off target with its council reorganisation programme: “This is a complex process, and we will take decisions based on the evidence provided.” Guido predicts this could see elections delayed in 2027 too…
The Home Office snuck out the terms of reference for its review into the asylum detention centre at Manston in Kent. It is likely to be critical of the facility, a challenge for Mahmood in 2026…
The farce of the Ajax vehicle programme collapse continues. The MoD revealed “findings from the investigations into Ajax will be closely aligned to decisions in the Defence Investment Plan.” Labour’s defence investment plan is overdue and is clearly being held up by the Ajax debacle…
Paymaster General Nick Thomas-Symonds admitted to Parliament that the long-running Covid Inquiry cost £9.3 million so far in FY25-6 with at least 200 civil servants tasked (full time equivalent) to man the government unit handling it. The statement admits: “While every effort has been made to ensure a robust methodology, complexities remain in trying to quantify the time and costs dedicated to the Inquiry alone.” The government does not even know how much it is costing…
That’s just a few of the statements. As families cut back at Christmas and businesspeople contemplate filing their January tax return, what exactly is it all for?
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