Boris Johnson orders ministers to cut 91,000 civil service jobs

Boris Johnson orders ministers to cut 91,000 civil service jobs
May 13, 2022, 12:17 pm

Boris Johnson in a visit to Hinkley Point C, which is the first new nuclear power station to be built in the UK this century. It will generate low-carbon electricity for six million homes (File photo: PM Boris Johnson official Facebook page)

The Daily Mail reported on Thursday (May 12), British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered ministers to slash 91,000 civil service jobs to free up billions for tax cuts.

It said that Johnson used a "cost of living" cabinet meeting in the Midlands on Wednesday (May 11) to order his top team to redouble their efforts to ease the financial pressure on struggling families, citing Reuters, the USnews reported.

The Daily Mail said, they were given one month to come up with plans to cut the size of the civil service by almost a fifth of the current total, which would save about 3.5 billion pounds ($4.27 billion) a year.

The report quoted Johnson as saying: "Every pound the Government pre-empts from the taxpayer is money they can spend on their own priorities, on their own lives."

Outdoor market in London, UK (Photo: Pixabay)

The newspaper said that the prime minister also remains convinced of the need for more officials to get back into the workplace.

He told the Daily Mail: "We need to get back into the habit of getting into the office, getting into the workplace. There will be lots of people who disagree with me, but I believe people are more productive, more energetic, more full of ideas, when they are surrounded by other people."

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Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA, a union for public service managers and professionals, said in a tweet, "Unless they’ve got a serious plan, it's either another headline-grabbing stunt or a reckless slash-and-burn to public services without a thought or care about the consequences."

Johnson's order comes after he told the parliament on Tuesday (May 10) he and Chancellor Rishi Sunak will have more to say in the coming days on helping voters with the current cost of living crisis.

Source: usnews

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