Presented by Global Citizen
London Playbook
By EMILIO CASALICCHIO
with NOAH KEATE
Good afternoon. This is Emilio Casalicchio.
THURSDAY CHEAT SHEET
— Keir Starmer announced he will abolish NHS England and the reaction was mixed.
— Wes Streeting said the move will lead to thousands of civil servants losing their roles. Others are sceptical.
— Vladimir Putin made fresh demands in response to the proposed ceasefire deal in Ukraine.
— What ministers ask ChatGPT about for work is FOI-able.
— Dominic Cummings fell in love with a cat.
**A message from Global Citizen: Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has helped save almost 19 million lives by immunising 1.1 billion children. A full pledge from the UK Government will ensure Gavi reaches 500 million more children in the next 5 years, protecting them from more diseases, faster than ever before. Read more here.**
TOP OF THE NEWSLIST
WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED: Health Secretary Wes Streeting is touring the evening broadcast studios to sell the biggest Whitehall shakeup Labour has announced so far.
Proper news for the SW1 crowd: Prime Minister Keir Starmer blindsided most of Westminster when he announced in Hull this morning he would be binning NHS England — the “world’s largest quango,” as the government itself put it, otherwise known as the wonks who run the health service. Playbook PM hears the top-secret plan (which remained under wraps despite a string of NHS England bosses quitting over the past week) was named “Project Romulus.”
Be creative: Insert classics gags and speculation about when “Project Remus” might emerge here.
Assisted death: Starmer said the organization will be folded back into the health department to reduce duplication and bring the service once more “under democratic control,” reversing the post-2012 reorganization the Conservatives implemented. The Conservatives did promise no top-down NHS reorganization, to be fair, so the post-2012 changes will now feel like a distant bad dream.
Although … Labour also promised no top-down reorganization as far back as *checks notes* September 2024.
Nevertheless: “It will immediately save on all the duplication and reorientate that to the front line, which is a very good thing to do,” Starmer told the News Agents podcast, which landed in the past hour, about the NHS England move. He said work on the merger will start with immediate effect and take about 24 months, with Downing Street insisting savings will be ring-fenced for frontline health services. “I will put every penny of that back into frontline services,” Streeting told Times Radio this evening. (Full broadcast timings for Streeting below.)
Savings such as … cutting overall health management staffing a whopping 50 percent, from the 15,300 in NHS England and the 3,300 in the health department, Streeting told the Commons this afternoon. “That will deliver hundreds of millions of pounds worth of savings, and the exact figures will be determined by the precise configuration of staff,” he added.
Or even savings such as … Streeting failed to confirm at four times of asking on the LBC Andrew Marr show whether doctors and nurses could lose work due to the changes. In the end, he admitted: “Inevitably there’ll be some service changes where a doctor or nurse might be employed in one place and that may change, but they should find jobs elsewhere.”
The knock-on savings: Labour is arguing it should be cheaper to purchase equipment and tech when a central organization is doing the buying, while the government will be able to reduce paperwork and increase focus on patient care. The Tories of course made similar promises in 2012.
The reaction to the big NHS England shake-up: The Tories welcomed it (while complaining about other Labour policies) and said ministers will now have “nowhere to hide” when it comes to NHS performance. Former Health Minister James Bethell even tweeted: “”I wish we’d had the guts to do this.” The Lib Dems (who created NHS England alongside the Tories) also welcomed it but argued Starmer “needs to read the room” and fix the social care issue that’s heaping pressure on the health service. Think tank the Health Foundation said there was some logic to the move but warned reorganization will be a disruptive distraction from delivering services. The King’s Fund said similar and argued ministers “will need to explain how the prize will be worth the price.”
Speaking of delivering services: The latest numbers (from NHS England, in fact) showed waiting lists falling a little for the fifth month in a row. Starmer noted during his speech in Hull: “That’s in winter. It’s really hard to get waiting lists down in winter.”
More reaction, more downbeat: Dave Penman, boss of the FDA union for senior civil servants, argued the suggestion the reform will deal mostly with duplication was “for the birds.” He told Times Radio on the plan to cut headcount: “Work is being done by those people. And if they’re not there, then it’s not going to get done.” He said reducing two comms teams to one is not the kind of move that will slash staff numbers in half. Labour-backing Unison was outraged about the “shambolic” announcement.
Speaking of comms teams: The former comms boss for NHS England now heads up the Downing Street comms grid. Funny how things turn out.
And lo: “It doesn’t make sense to have a communications team in NHS England, a communications team in the department, to have a policy team in both camps, to have a strategy team in both camps,” Starmer told the Institute for Government Inside Briefing podcast, in comments shared with Playbook PM before the show goes live this evening.
Take back control: The PM also explained his thinking about putting power back into political hands. “When politicians push everything into a process or an arm’s length body or an agency, what they’re really doing over time is disempowering themselves,” he told the podcast. “Because there’s almost this culture of not trying if something goes wrong. Let’s make sure politicians don’t make that decision again in future, to a point where you can’t pull the levers anymore.” Here’s hoping.
More from the wonks: The IfG also chewed through the NHS England decision in great detail during its panel discussion at noon. Watch that back here. And former Whitehall boss Gus O’Donnell told the Radio PM programme abolishing the quango will “save a relatively small about of money.”
More taking back control to come: Speaking to the News Agents podcast, Starmer insisted the state will be smaller at the end of the current parliament, with fewer people working for it. “I believe in the state,” he said. “I think it should be active. I think it should be sleeves rolled up. It should be on the pitch, making a difference. But at the moment, what we’ve got is an oversized and underpowered state, the complete opposite of the active state.”
Activate the bots to shrink the state: Tech Sec Peter Kyle was rushing around this morning telling broadcasters how digitizing the government will save some £45 billion — even before AI gets stuck in. He pledged to bring 25,000 new civil servants into `Whitehall with digital skills that could save the government some £100 billion in the longer term.
And this bloke knows it: His own use of AI shows what kind of promise the chatbot revolution can bring. When he asked it which podcasts the science minister should be interviewed on, ChatGPT suggested The Infinite Monkey Cage and The Naked Scientists. Priceless advice, as revealed via FoI in New Scientist magazine.
Where else to save government cash: From disability benefits, of course. The work and pensions department put a press release out this afternoon bashing their own “broken” benefits regime, noting that the number of people on the highest rate of Universal Credit with no support to look for work has almost quadrupled since the pandemic. The big welfare-cutting announcement is set to be unveiled next week. POLITICO’s Dan Bloom has a thread with a bit more detail on what’s actually expected.
That is … if the decision can get through Cabinet. George Eaton writes in the New Statesman that even Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is unhappy about the scale of the welfare cuts. Strange she hasn’t quit over it, then. He writes that Cabinet ministers challenged Chancellor Rachel Reeves this week to change her fiscal rules to find the cash instead. No dice.
The good news for Reeves is … more MPs have told Playbook PM they are somewhat relieved about the noises on welfare cuts after briefings in Downing Street. But backbenchers still don’t know the details, and the big concern remains that Personal Independence Payments for disabilities are on the chopping board, despite officials insisting it’s all about incentives to work.
Yep, we know: One MP said that when colleagues note to No.10 officials that PIP is not a work-related benefit, the officials just nod their heads.
Win some, lose some: The i newspaper reports that hopes of mitigating the two-child benefit limit are being scrapped.
Not helping: Former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls told his podcast with George Osborne this afternoon cutting benefits for the most vulnerable people will fail and is “not a Labour thing to do.”
DRIVETIME DEBRIEF
PUTIN HIS DEMANDS OUT THERE: Russian President Vladimir Putin sounded like he was stalling for time when he used a press conference to declare that he agrees with the proposals for an Ukraine ceasefire — with big caveats. He talked about needing a mechanism for policing Ukrainian breaches of the truce and preventing Ukraine re-arming during the pause in fighting. Full writeup here.
What happens next: Donald Trump aide Steve Witkoff will meet Putin tonight, according to POLITICO colleagues across the pond.
No surprises: Keir Starmer told the News Agents he was not surprised Russia appears to have dismissed the ceasefire proposals so far. Clip here.
Back in town: New Canadian PM Mark Carney will head to the U.K. and France next week for his first official trip abroad, according to the Globe and Mail. He of course knows London well following his stint at the Bank of England.
ICYMI: POLITICO’s Tim Ross has a great read on the role the U.K. played in getting the ceasefire back on track after the Oval Office meltdown — including frantic WhatsApps from Keir Starmer to Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
JUSTICE UNLOCKED: Court hearings between Apple and the Home Office about controversial data protection changes must be held in public, MPs including the Tories’ David Davis, Lib Dem Victoria Collins and Reform’s Lee Anderson told Sky News’ Tim Baker. It comes after the tech firm said it would not offer U.K. users its Advanced Data Protection following a bust-up with government over encryption.
More legal news: Tory MP Geoffrey Cox was paid £75,000 to give legal advice to the Mauritian government in the months leading up to the Chagos Islands deal. The Times’ George Grylls and Max Kendix got the deets. Mauritian PM Navin Ramgoolam was Cox’s pupil when he studied law in the U.K. But Cox denied his work concerned the Chagos Islands dispute.
Speaking of Chagos: Ramgoolam confirmed India has been central to getting Donald Trump over the line on the controversial Chagos deal.Clip here.
COMING ATTRACTIONS: Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is (surprise, surprise) the star turn at the annual Margaret Thatcher conference the Center for Policy Studies is hosting on March 17. She will be up at 5.35 p.m., while former Chancellor George Osborne and Conservative MP Katie Lam are also among speakers.
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: Construction of a new M3 junction 9 scheme in South Hampshire starting next week … water infrastructure … the new Board of Trade.
What the government doesn’t want to talk about: Economist Adam Tooze notes on his Substack that the latest official numbers suggest “it is time to panic about the U.K. economy’s efficiency.” He adds: “Britain’s long-standing productivity puzzle is turning into a crisis. After kinking downwards in 2008 as the fastest growing sector and regions all underperformed, the latest data are even more gloomy.” Yikes.
SOCIAL (MEDIA) AFFAIRS
TWITTER DIPLOMACY: Whipless former Reform MP Rupert Lowe has taken to publishing letters on Twitter begging Nigel Farage to have dinner with him to patch things up, after he criticized the Dear Leader for acting like a “messiah” and relations descended into a massive slanging and accusations match from there.
BEYOND THE M25
WHAT BRITAIN THINKS: This thread from More in Common U.K. Director Luke Tryl about focus grouping in Reform target areas Merthyr Tydfil and Dudley is worth a read. One person said about Kemi Badenoch: “I’ve never heard of him.” Another asked why Nigel Farage is “cosying up to Trump.”
HONEST JOHN LATEST: Scottish FM John Swinney met Donald Trump’s son Eric for a chat about golf in Bute House this afternoon — after his spinners initially tried to keep the meeting under wraps, my POLITICO colleague Andrew McDonald writes in. “He’s got a number of engagements,” Swinney’s spokesperson initially told journalists when asked about what he was up to … before accepting Swinney was meeting Trump once a hack asked directly, the Sun’s Conor Matchett reports.
Just two lads chatting about golf: In a statement after the meeting Trump said the pair didn’t discuss Scottish or U.S. politics and “concentrated on golf”, with Swinney thanking him for Trump’s investments in Scotland. Merit-based hiring fan Eric oversees his dad’s Scottish golf courses, of course.
SPEAKING OF TRUMP SENIOR: The U.S. president threatened to impose a 200 percent tariff on wine, champagne and alcoholic products from France and other EU countries after the bloc readied retaliatory tariffs in response to global White House metal tariffs. French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard told my continental colleagues that France didn’t want a trade war with the U.S. but Europe “will react firmly to safeguard the interests of their companies.”
MIDDLE EAST LATEST: A U.N. report accused Israel of committing “genocidal acts” against Palestinians during the war in Gaza by destroying women’s healthcare facilities and “imposing measures intended to prevent births.” The report also said a surge in maternity deaths was amounted to the crime against humanity of extermination. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the findings as biased and antisemitic. Sky has a writeup.
IN BRUSSELS: Police raided more than 20 addresses as part of a bribery probe into Chinese tech giant Huawei’s lobbying activities. A spokesperson for the Belgian Prosecutor’s office said there was an investigation into “active corruption, forgery of documents [and] money laundering at the European Parliament.” Several people have been arrested. My POLITICO colleagues have more.
REMEMBERING ALGERIA: DUP MP Jim Shannon raised human rights violations in Algeria in the House of Commons for the first time since 1902. Shannon’s question focused on the Kabyle Berber minority amid accusations of growing repression including arbitrary arrests and restrictions on religious freedoms. Shannon said Foreign Secretary David Lammy should make a statement while Commons Leader Lucy Powell told him Britain’s Ambassador to Algeria James Downer raised it regularly with counterparts.
**A message from Global Citizen: Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is one of the most cost-effective investments in global health. But it is at real risk in the face of deadly cuts to the UK aid budget. Over 25 years, Gavi has immunised over a billion children, stopped deadly diseases from spreading around the world, and saved almost 19 million lives. Gavi strengthens health care systems, drives economic growth, and helps protect the UK from future pandemics, boosting safety and security for us all. UK support is vital in continuing these successes. By making a full pledge, the UK Government can help Gavi immunise 500 million children over the next 5 years, save up to 9 million lives, and protect the world from health emergencies. The UK has a proud history of action on global immunisation. Labour must continue to deliver for Gavi, providing security at home and saving lives across the world. Read more here.**
TONIGHT’S MEDIA ROUND
LEADING THE NEWS BULLETINS: Channel 5 News (5 p.m.), BBC News at Six and ITV Evening News (6.30 p.m.) all lead on the abolition of NHS England … Channel 4 News (7 p.m.) focuses on Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking about the proposed ceasefire with Ukraine.
Tom Swarbrick at Drive (LBC, until 6 p.m.): British Medical Association Council Chair Philip Banfield (5.05 p.m.) … former Secret Intelligence Service Officer Christopher Steele (5.35 p.m.).
Drive with John Pienaar (Times Radio, until 7 p.m.): Former Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.K. Volodymyr Khandohiy (5.05 p.m.) … More in Common’s Luke Tryl (5.45 p.m.) … the House’s Sienna Rodgers and ConHome’s Henry Hill (both 6 p.m.).
BBC PM (Radio 4, 5 p.m.): Health Secretary Wes Streeting … former Cabinet Secretary Gus O’Donnell.
News Hour (Sky News, 5 p.m.): Former U.K. Ambassador to Russia Laurie Bristow (6.05 p.m.) … Royal United Services Institute Senior Associate Fellow Mark Galeotti (6.30 p.m.) … Ukrainian MP Lisa Yasko (6.45 p.m.).
The News Agents (Podcast, drops at 5 p.m.): Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Sky News Daily (Podcast, drops at 5 p.m.): Reform UK’s former Director of Communications Gawain Towler.
Tonight With Andrew Marr (LBC, 6 p.m.): Wes Streeting … Gus O’Donnell … crossbench peer and former NHS England Chief Executive Nigel Crisp.
BBC Newscast (Podcast, drops at 6 p.m.): Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
Dewbs and Co (GB News, 6 p.m.): Former Labour MP Bill Rammell.
Politics Hub (Sky News, 7 p.m.): Wes Streeting … Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation Jonathan Hall … Tory peer Kate Fall … Keir Starmer’s biographer Tom Baldwin.
Farage (GB News, 7 p.m.): Former Tory MP Heather Wheeler.
Iain Dale (LBC, 7 p.m.): Former Tory Chief Whip Simon Hart phone-in (8 p.m. until 9 p.m.).
Patrick Christys Tonight (GB News, 9 p.m.): Former Tory MP Anna Firth … Tory peer Shaun Bailey … former Labour adviser Matthew Laza.
Question Time (BBC Sounds and iPlayer 9 p.m. and BBC One, 10.40 p.m.): Economic Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds … Shadow Health Minister Luke Evans … Lib Dem MP Wendy Chamberlain … economist Faiza Shaheen … podcaster Konstantin Kisin.
Newsnight (BBC Two, 10.30 p.m.): Wes Streeting … adviser to the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office Mykhailo Podolyak.
TWEETING TOMORROW’S PAPERS TONIGHT: George Mann.
REVIEWING THE PAPERS TONIGHT: Times Radio (10.30 p.m.): Former Tory MP Julie Kirkbride and HuffPost’s Kevin Schofield … Sky News (10.30 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.): The Spectator’s James Heale and National World’s Nancy Fielder.
WHERE TO FIND BOOZE IN WESTMINSTER TONIGHT
IN NUMBER 10: Keir Starmer is hosting British Muslims for an Iftar reception in Downing Street tonight.
**Can’t join the discussions at our Energy & Climate UK Summit on March 27 in London? We've got you covered with an exclusive POLITICO Happy Hour after the event! Secure your spot today!**
TOMORROW’S WORLD
HAPPENING OVERNIGHT: The public accounts committee has a report out about prison places and the National Audit Office has a report out about megaprojects.
GROWTH IN POLITICAL PRESSURE: The ONS publishes its GDP monthly estimate for January at 7 a.m.
IN THE COMMONS: MPs sit from 9.30 a.m. to chat backbench bills.
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson will speak at the Association of School and College Leaders conference, at 10.35 a.m.
COURT CIRCULAR: Former Reform leader in Wales Nathan Gill is expected to appear in court charged with bribery offenses relating to his time in the European Parliament.
HANGING WITH PALS: Foreign Secretary David Lammy remains in Canada for G7 talks and will do a couple of interviews.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
PACKED LUNCH OR PALACE LUNCH: Subject to change, here are the lunch menus on the estate tomorrow: The Debate: Brazilian bean and pork feijoada with coriander rice, toasted orange polenta and tomato salsa; paprika scampi po boy with tomato salad and Cajun mayo; jackfruit and vegetable chili with coriander and giant couscous … Terrace Cafeteria: Tuscan soup with kidney and butter beans; corned beef and horseradish hash with green cabbage and fried egg; pepper and oregano vegetable lasagne; fish and chips … River Restaurant: Tofu and bean pie with chips and vegetables; pork grill with potatoes, coleslaw and salad; fish and chips.
SPOTTED: Former PM Rishi Sunak and shadow minister Richard Holden having a laugh over breakfast at the Woolsey in Mayfair.
NOW HIRING: The Bright Blue think tank is recruiting a comms manager.
COMING ATTRACTION: The Westminster Arms will reopen at the end of next week, former Reform spinner and regular Gawain Towler reports.
EYEBROWS, RAISED: This afternoon’s Popbitch has some rumors about an (unnamed) right-wing politician and an (unnamed) tabloid journalist, who are apparently secretly canoodling.
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: Mary Wakefield writes in this week’s Spectator about how a gray kitten named George mellowed her husband — one Dominic Cummings. Despite the the eccentric Substacker and former No 10 adviser loathing cats, Wakefield has spotted the pair “staring solemnly and seriously into each other’s eyes.” Moving stuff. The kitten has also altered how the disruptor-in-chief talks about politicians: “Gah! Bastards. Clowns. Idiots… Oh, hello kitten! What a lovely kitten! What a brave and perfect kitten!”
ON THIS DAY IN POLITICS: Future PM Charles Grey was born in Falloden, Northumberland in 1764. He went on to become Earl Grey (the tea was named for him after he was sent the blend as a gift) and prime minister from 1830 to 1834. On the same day in 1996, 16 children and one teacher were killed by a gunman in Dunblane, Scotland, which prompted the U.K. government to ban the private ownership of almost all handguns … while in 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump declared the Covid-19 pandemic a national emergency.
WRITING PLAYBOOK TOMORROW MORNING: Stefan Boscia.
THANKS TO: My editor Matt Honeycombe-Foster, reporter Noah Keate and the POLITICO production team for making it look nice.
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