Elon Musk and Keir Starmer. (Left) Elon Musk holds a chainsaw reading "Long live freedom, damn it" during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on February 20, 2025. (Right) Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference at a summit at Lancaster House on March 2, 2025 in London, England. SAUL LOEB/AFP - Julian Simmonds - WPA Pool/Getty Images
The United Kingdom's ruling Labour Party has been accused of mimicking the cost-cutting measures overseen by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Trump administration.
In recent days, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K.'s foreign aid budget would be reduced from 0.5 percent of gross national income to 0.3 percent in 2027 to pay for increased defense spending. Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden has also outlined proposals that could result in significant layoffs of government employees, known as civil service workers.
Newsweek has contacted the Cabinet Office for comment via email.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO member states for failing to meet military spending targets. Starmer seems eager to ensure the U.K.-U.S. alliance remains strong, as seen when the prime minister personally delivered a letter from King Charles III inviting Trump for what would be an unprecedented second state visit to the U.K.
Claims that recent cost-cutting proposals echo DOGE in the U.S. come as Starmer and the center-left Labour government try to stave off rising support in the polls for the right-wing Reform Party, led by Trump ally Nigel Farage.
What to Know
On Sunday, McFadden, whose Labour Party secured a landslide victory in the July 2024 election, announced reforms to the civil service, which is broadly equivalent to the federal government in the U.S.
This includes linking senior civil service officials' pay to performance. Some civil servants performing below expectations may be "incentivized" to leave their jobs under a "mutually agreed" exit process.
McFadden, whose title is chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told the BBC on Sunday that the civil service "would and can" become smaller.
BBC anchor Laura Kuenssberg asked McFadden whether these plans were similar to the "radical" changes introduced by Musk in the U.S. McFadden responded that the government is not taking an "ideological approach" to cost-cutting.
Dave Penman, the general secretary of the civil servants' trade union, FDA, told Newsweek that while the U.K. government is "a long way off the vast swathes of cuts undertaken" in the U.S, it must still be careful not to fall into the "same narrative" of civil service reform.
Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect trade union, accused the U.K. government of using civil service workers as a "political punchbag."
Clancy previously wrote an opinion piece for the Civil Service World website, warning that the U.K. would "rue the consequences" if Musk's cost-cutting agenda were copied.
One unnamed Labour politician told the British tabloid newspaperThe Mirror that the civil service reform plans were "another knee-jerk reaction" mimicking Musk's DOGE mandate, which has resulted in thousands of federal workers being laid off and departments such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) being dismantled.
"Not a good look," the Labour member of Parliament said.
Shockat Adam, an independent MP for Leicester South, accused Starmer of taking the "Elon Musk route of slashing foreign aid" while urging the government to reconsider its international spending plans.
Anneliese Dodds, the U.K.'s former international development minister, resigned from her post over Starmer's decision to cut the international aid budget.
In her resignation letter, Dodds said the move was "being portrayed as following in President Trump's slipstream of cuts to USAID."
What People Are Saying
FDA General Secretary Dave Penman told Newsweek: "The changes and cuts to the civil service proposed by the UK government are a long way off the vast swathes of cuts undertaken by DOGE in the U.S. However, the government must be careful not to allow the same narrative to dominate discussions of civil service reform...
"The idea that you can just cut vast numbers of civil servants—particularly in the blunt and unmanaged way we have seen in the U.S.—without decimating public services is detached from reality.
Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect trade union, told Newsweek: "Nobody would say the civil service is perfect, and our members are willing partners in reform, but this government must end the tradition of treating the civil service as a political punchbag. A serious reform agenda must start not from blunt headcount targets, but from an appraisal of the specialist skills needed in areas like science and data, and a realization that the current pay system does not compete with the private sector for these skills."
Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden, speaking to the BBC on Sunday: "Performance management is part of every big organization, but it's important for you and your viewers to remember: We're a center-left government. We believe in good public provision. That's why we fought the election saying we wanted to have more teachers in schools, more neighborhood police officers, and why we wanted to reduce hospital waiting lists.
"That will guide us in our actions. It's up front in our policies, so we will be radical about this, but it's about getting bang for our buck in terms of the outcomes for the public. It isn't an ideological approach to stripping back the state."
Prime Minister Keir Starmer defending foreign aid cuts to pay for an increased defense budget on February 25: "There is no driver of migration and poverty like conflict. That is why, by taking strong action now to deter tyrants like Putin, we have to make the decisions we've made today. Not a decision I wanted to take, but a decision that was necessary for the protection of our country."
Shockat Adam, an independent MP for Leicester South, in a February 27 statement: "For Keir Starmer to take the Elon Musk route of slashing foreign aid when there are far fairer and better ways to raise the money is a worrying Trumpification of British politics. There is a better way."
What Happens Next
U.K. ministers are reportedly planning to cut about 10,000 civil service roles as part of their efficiency push. McFadden did not disclose a specific figure during his BBC interview on Sunday.
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This story was originally published March 10, 2025 at 1:18 PM.