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Whitehall 'infantilised' by reliance on consultants, minister claims Exclusive: leaked letter from Lord Agnew to senior civil servants demands they rein in spending A £56m bill and rising …Whitehall has been “infantilised” by an “unacceptable” reliance on expensive management consultants, a government minister has claimed in a leaked letter.Lord Agnew, the cabinet and Treasury minister, wrote to senior civil servants two weeks ago demanding they rein in spiralling costs paid to private firms and stop “depriving our brightest [public servants] of opportunities to work on some of the most challenging, fulfilling and crunchy issues”. Continue reading... Go to Source

Debate offers Trump chance to yank stubbornly stable 2020 race his way Presidential candidates to face off for first time in Cleveland and for Biden no news would be good newsAfter months of anticipation, Donald Trump and election rival Joe Biden were scheduled to meet on a debate stage for the first time in Cleveland on Tuesday night, in what could be Trump’s last best chance to turn the presidential race his way and win re-election. Related: US presidential debate: all you need to know about the face-off in Cleveland Continue reading... Go to Source

Tory council leader condemns PM's 'unacceptable' Covid restrictions Exclusive: Boris Johnson faces broadside from Bolton on day he got north-east rules wrongCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBoris Johnson has come under stinging attack from a Tory council leader over the “sheer unfairness” of regional coronavirus restrictions, as the prime minister faced ridicule for muddling new lockdown rules.David Greenhalgh, the council leader in Bolton, one of the UK’s worst-hit areas, said government handling of the measures was “breeding resentment” among “red wall” voters who switched to the Conservatives in December’s general election. Continue reading... Go to Source

Brexit: Brussels rebuffs new UK proposals on state subsidies Paper on guarantees for struggling companies still leaves major gap with EU positionBoris Johnson has been rebuffed by Brussels after making an eleventh hour attempt to break the Brexit logjam with new proposals on limiting state subsidies to ailing British companies.As the latest week of negotiations began, EU sources welcomed the UK’s effort to make a compromise with a submission of a new round of “negotiating papers”, but warned that a large gap remained between the two sides. Continue reading... Go to Source

UK imposes sanctions on Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko Asset freeze and travel ban come with censure of regime’s ‘thuggery’ against its peopleThe UK has imposed sanctions on the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, his son and six other senior government officials judged to be responsible for rigging the August presidential poll and suppressing subsequent street protests.The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, announced the sanctions on Tuesday in coordination with a similar move from Canada. “We will hold those responsible for the thuggery deployed against the Belarusian people to account and we will stand up for our values of democracy and human rights,” he said. Continue reading... Go to Source

Global coronavirus deaths pass 1m with no sign rate is slowing Johns Hopkins University data points to rises in countries that seemed to have slowed spreadCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe number of people who have died from Covid-19 has exceeded 1 million, according to a tally of cases maintained by Johns Hopkins University, with no sign the global death rate is slowing and infections on the rise again in countries that were thought to be controlling their outbreaks months ago.The milestone was reached early on Tuesday morning UK time, nine months since authorities in China first announced the detection of a cluster of pneumonia cases with an unknown cause in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. The first recorded death, that of a 61-year-old man in a hospit...

One million coronavirus deaths: how did we get here? Milestone is known toll of months of Covid pandemic that has changed everything, from power balances to everyday lifeThough an inevitable milestone for months, its arrival is still breathtaking.Deaths from Covid-19 exceeded 1 million people on Tuesday , according to a Johns Hopkins University database, the known toll of nine relentless months of a pandemic that has changed everything, from global balances of power to the mundane aspects of daily life. Continue reading... Go to Source