Friday morning news briefing: Mass cull of Whitehall jobs
Civil service union leaders are on a direct collision course with ministers. As Whitehall opened a new front in their homeworking battle by seeking the right to work from abroad, Boris Johnson unveiled plans to cut 91,000 civil service jobs.
The Prime Minister said the savings made from cutting "swollen" departments would be ploughed into helping people with the cost of living crisis – hinting it may be used to fund future tax cuts.
At a Cabinet away day in Stoke-on-Trent, he gave each member of his top team one month to come up with plans for slimming down their own department as part of a drive to cut the overall number of officials by a fifth.
Gordon Rayner and Nick Gutteridge explain how the bosses of Whitehall departments will insist that staff are allowed to work overseas "for personal reasons" rather than having to take annual leave.
A series of motions passed by the FDA union's conference amounted to a manifesto for home working, in direct contradiction of government policy.
The union's official stance is now that "work is no longer a place, but what is done".
Columnist Judith Woods argues that "this militancy is predicated on a bizarrely philosophical concept" and Matthew Lynn asks: "Would anyone notice if we sacked homeworking civil servants?"
Lord Frost: PM must brave it out over Protocol
Boris Johnson must show the same leadership over Northern Ireland as he has on Ukraine by ripping up the Northern Ireland Protocol, says Lord Frost.
The former Brexit minister, who was the architect of the 2019 withdrawal deal, said efforts to broker an agreement have "reached the end of the road" and urged the Prime Minister to act now to save the Union even if it means "confrontation" with the EU.
Writing for The Telegraph, he said Sinn Fein's victory in last week's Stormont elections and the refusal of the DUP to enter power-sharing have "forced the Government's hand".
Lord Frost's intervention comes after a day during which relations further deteriorated as Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, had a "tetchy" half-hour call with the EU's negotiator, Maros Sefcovic.
Pudding fit for the jubilee is no mere trifle
A lemon Swiss roll and amaretti trifle inspired by a dessert from the Queen's 1947 wedding menu has been named the nation's Platinum Pudding, beating 5,000 other recipes.
The dessert, created by Jemma Melvin, won a nationwide contest to find a recipe that could be recreated in homes across the UK to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee next month.
See the recipe for how you can make the winning entry.
Daily dose of Matt
In his latest cartoon, Matt finds humour in the High Court battle dubbed Wagatha Christie.
Also in the news: Today's other headlines
National inspiration | Deborah James has been made a dame after she raised more than £3 million for cancer charities in less than a week. Ms James, renowned for her BBC podcast You, Me and the Big C, revealed on Monday that she had started end-of-life care for bowel cancer. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have donated to her cause.
- Squeezed | Landlords paying £100 a month more for mortgages
- Middle class 'bias' | Exam questions on theatre and ski trips
- Smart motorways | All-lane running highways are safe, say experts
- Campaign for Children | Covid effect on young people in inquiry
- Anyone home? | 'Doorway' on Mars spawns alien conspiracies
Around the world: A bridge too far for invaders
Military experts agree that crossing any river in the middle of a conflict is not easy. But the Russian army's attempt to build a pontoon over the Siverskyi Donets river was so catastrophically flawed that it ended with a large portion of a battalion wiped out in the process. Chief reporter Robert Mendick writes that if ever a battle in the brutal Ukraine war was emblematic of Russian military failure, then perhaps this was it. As the head of an elite unit said that British troops are "ready to go and fight" Russia in a "lethal" way if called upon, follow live updates.
Comment and analysis
- Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | The perfect home for Brexit Britain?
- Fraser Nelson | We are paying the price for PM’s peak 'cakeism'
- Ben Marlow | Energy bosses provoking Sunak into new tax raid
- Michael Fallon | Vladimir Putin has made his biggest blunder yet
- Reader letters | Public paying price for civil service performance
Editor's choice
- Scurrilous gossip | Why Agatha Christie would have revelled in the Wagatha Christie trial
- Thundering start | Queen's Platinum Jubilee Celebration: A Gallop Through History, review
- Geek chic | Eleven ways Stranger Things kept the 1980s in vogue
Sport briefing: Spurs humiliate 10-man Arsenal
Tottenham kept their Champions League hopes alive as they put 10-man Arsenal to the sword with a 3-0 victory in a pulsating north London derby. Sam Wallace reports on a long, dark night of the soul for Mikel Arteta and Matt Law examines the 11 minutes of madness that might undo a season of progress for Arsenal. In cricket, Brendon McCullum is likely to make relaxing England's midnight team curfew one of his first big decisions after signing a £2m contract as the new Test head coach.
Business briefing: Sunak warned over windfall tax
Rishi Sunak will put Britain's energy security at risk if he imposes a windfall tax on oil companies, the head of BP has warned, as the country battles soaring fuel prices. Bernard Looney said a tax raid on his industry would make the UK a less stable environment for investment and potentially hold back plans to wean the country off its dependence on foreign oil and gas. Experts are warning of a surge in the price of diesel because refineries are struggling to keep pace with demand.
Tonight's dinner
Smoked haddock with garlicky cream and raw asparagus salad | Eleanor Steafel says there is something very comforting about an old fashioned smoked fish supper. See the recipe and try our Cookbook newsletter.
Travel: England's best secret beaches
It felt like winter would never end, but – after months of chilly temperatures – warmer weather has finally arrived. For those hoping to celebrate this weekend with a trip to the seaside – the first for six months, perhaps – Daniel Start picks a dozen of England's least crowded stretches of sand that are gloriously off the beaten track.
And finally... for this morning's downtime
Where are Britain's Eurovision Song Contest entries now? | Guaranteed to provide a lift in dark times, Eurovision 2022 is flouncing back onto our screens. Britain has a chequered record in Europe's trashiest competition. Ahead of the final tomorrow night, Tristram Fane Saunders explores what came next for contestants.
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