Politics latest: Rachel Reeves sets post-Brexit milestone - as minister evokes Dominic Cummings (2025)

Sir Keir Starmer is on a trip to the Middle East and has used it to announce funding to support Syria following the fall of the Assad regime.

The UK will commit £11m in additional humanitarian aid, as the world waits for how the country will move on from decades of dictatorship.

By Alix Culbertson, political reporter

Property developers will be able to bypass planning committees under new government plans to "overhaul" the process.

Applications "that comply with local development plans" will not have to get approval from local council planning committees in England under the new plan, Housing Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has announced.

This will "tackle chronic uncertainty, unacceptable delays and unnecessary waste of time and resources", her department said.

The move is part of what the government is calling its "Plan for Change" and will also see a national "scheme of delegation" - outlining who has the authority to make decisions and perform certain functions - the creation of "streamlined committees for strategic development" and mandatory training for planning committee members.

Local planning officers will also be given more powers to implement the agreed planning policy.

The new measures are not set in stone yet, with the government seeking views from experts before a final proposal then a public consultation next year, to coincide with the introduction of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill next year.

While the prime minister is in Saudi Arabia this afternoon, the chancellor's over in Brussels.

Rachel Reeves is there to become the first chancellor since Brexit to address a meeting of EU finance ministers, as the government keeps up its bid to "reset" relations with the bloc.

Better UK-EU links will help 'working people'

She said it's "in our national interest to have more normal trading relations with our nearest neighbours and trading partners".

Closer ties will help with "growing our economy and improving living standards for ordinary working people", she added.

The government has repeatedly criticised the Brexit deal signed off by Boris Johnson, but has ruled out any return to the single market or customs union - and sceptics say it'll be tough to achieve any major economic benefits without doing so.

It has been easy to miss with the collapse of the Syrian government, but in Georgia there have been lots of protests in the past few days.

The unrest started after the government - led by the Georgian Dream party - pulled out of accession talks with the EU.

Opponents of the government say Georgian Dream is too close to Vladimir Putin's Russia.

Nightly gatherings were taking place, and then a crackdown by the authorities in Tbilisi began.

Watch: What is happening in Georgia?

'This must stop'

In response, Foreign Secretary David Lammy has today announced new action against Georgia.

He said: "The shocking scenes of violence towards protestors and journalists by the Georgian authorities are unacceptable and must stop.

"These actions tarnish Georgia's international standing and fly in the face of Georgia's constitutional commitment to a European future.

"In light of ongoing events, the UK will immediately suspend all programme support to the Georgian government, restrict defence cooperation, and limit engagement with representatives of the Georgian Dream government until there is a halt to this move away from European democratic norms and freedoms.

"The UK will continue to stand by the people of Georgia in supporting their right to choose their country's future."

A woman accused of stalking former chancellor George Osborne and his wife has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say Lydia Suffield sent emails and Instagram messages, as well as "false, anonymous tip-offs" to the NSPCC that resulted in "investigations for drug abuse and neglecting their children".

The 27-year-old allegedly stalked Mr Osborne and Thea Rogers between June 2022 and July 2023.

Rhianne Neil, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said the couple were so concerned they paid for extra security around the time of their wedding.

Suffield also allegedly sent messages about the couple's private life to their friends, family and colleagues.

Mr Osborne and Ms Rogers married on 8 July last year.

The accused - from Liverpool - appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court and pleaded not guilty to two charges of stalking involving serious alarm or distress.

Suffield, a freelance journalist, was granted bail on condition she does not contact the couple and will next appear at Isleworth Crown Court on 6 January.

Former Tory chancellor Mr Osborne edited the Evening Standard after leaving politics and now works for an investment bank, as well as being chair of the British Museum.

Every government seems to place the civil service in its crosshairs at some point, and now it's Labour's turn.

Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers have said it needs to reform, chiefly becoming more efficient to help deliver the change they want to achieve.

But what exactly is the civil service, and what role does it have in delivering the government's agenda?

What is the civil service?

Unlike departments like the Home Office or the Foreign Office, the civil service stands independent of government.

It's also politically impartial, so it doesn't change when a different party becomes the party of government.

Free of the uncertainty and drama that Westminster often provides, it means the service can crack on with essential day-to-day tasks like paying pensions, issuing passports and driving licences, and running the nation's prisons.

What do civil servants do?

There are more than 500,000 civil servants, spread across each government department.

There are a bunch of different roles, but some of the most important involve analysing policy options to help ministers make informed decisions about what they want to do.

They're all overseen by the cabinet secretary, who is appointed by the prime minister.

Unlike, for example, the foreign secretary, who could end up in that role without any relevant experience (MPs can be just about anyone, after all), civil service recruitment is a more like you'd expect in the private sector.

Regardless of the department, you'll find roles like economist, project manager and HR.

According to the Institute for Government, most work in "operational delivery", which covers public-facing services like pensions and tax.

Most of these jobs are in a relatively small number of very large departments like the Home Office and HMRC.

Why all this talk of reform?

Cynics might suggest ministers who struggle to deliver will look for a scapegoat and find one in the civil service, which becomes a byword for the bureaucracy politicians often blame for their failures.

We've seen it in the US recently with Donald Trump and his team, with Elon Musk championing the idea of cutting tens of thousands of government jobs that he thinks just get in the way of delivery.

Nigel Farage is a big believer in doing the same sort of thing here, and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has previously accused civil servants of "undermining" ministers and "leaking official secrets".

Such rhetoric doesn't do much for civil service morale, it's fair to say, and there have been reports of growing tensions between ministers and civil servants who are meant to give them independent advice.

But there have been genuine concerns expressed by the likes of the Institute for Government, which says the civil service suffers from "damaging levels of staff turnover" and doesn't do enough to allow challenge and scrutiny from outside Whitehall.

Essentially, it's become a bit of an echo chamber.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, is to give a statement in the House of Commons this afternoon on Syria.

It had been expected that such a statement would take place, but it needed to be formally confirmed by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

However, Sir Linsday has also granted an urgent question to the Conservatives on planning reform.

This, in conjunction with the Commons starting later on a Monday, means the statement on Syria likely won't start until around 4.15pm - although all timings are approximate.

We'll let you know when the statement is happening - and you will be able to follow the live updates here as Mr Lammy speaks and is asked questions by MPs.

Baroness Margaret Hodge, the former Labour MP, has been appointed Sir Keir Starmer's anti-corruption chair.

The role has been empty since 2022, when Boris Johnson's chair resigned over partygate.

Baroness Hodge is now a member of the House of Lords.

The role sits across the Home Office and Foreign Office in government.

According to a written statement in the Commons, the chair will have three "core responsibilities".

They are:

1. Helping the government to drive development of a new anti-corruption strategy and provide a challenge function for its delivery, once agreed;
2. Acting as a government entry point on anti-corruption issues for parliamentarians, private sector representatives and civil society;
3. Where required, engaging internationally to help drive progress on UK priorities.

In his speech today on civil service reform, Pat McFadden mentioned Dominic Cummings.

This harkens back to 2020, when Mr Cummings was the all-powerful chief of staff in Boris Johnson's newly elected Conservative government.

Mr Cummings wanted to shake up the civil service, and so put out a call for"weirdos and misfits with odd skills".

Writing on his personal blog, as well as appealing to specialists like economists, policy experts, project managers and communications experts, Mr Cummings wanted to attract "super-talented weirdos".

Mr Cummings was known for his desire to disrupt and change the way government worked, and heavily criticised the status quo.

He wrote at the time: "There are many brilliant people in the civil service and politics. Over the past five months the No10 political team has been lucky to work with some fantastic officials.

"But there are also some profound problems at the core of how the British state makes decisions. This was seen by pundit-world as a very eccentric view in 2014. It is no longer seen as eccentric.

"Dealing with these deep problems is supported by many great officials, particularly younger ones, though of course there will naturally be many fears - some reasonable, most unreasonable."

It didn't go to plan…

Unsurprisingly, the scheme was criticised by those in government, and mocked by those outside.

And it caused ignominious headlines for the government after Mr Cummings hired a man called Andrew Sabisky.

The 27-year-old was later sacked after comments he posted online were shared - where he had discussedeugenics, mind-enhancing drugs for children, FGM and women's sport.

He was also revealed to have claimed MPs should pay attention to the "debate" around "very real racial differences in intelligence".

Mr Cummings himself didn't last the year in Downing Street, and his reforms didn't materialise in the way he probably envisaged.

"Not the sexiest of subjects."

That's our political editor Beth Rigby's honest take on the government's chosen talking point of the day - reforming the civil service.

But don't worry, we're doing our best to make it exciting. In the meantime, here are the main things you need to know this lunchtime:

• Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden wants the civil service to take inspiration from start-up successes like WhatsApp and Spotify, as the government seeks"disruptors and innovators" to drive reform;
• He wants the service, criticised by the PM last week for being content with overseeing "managed decline", to be more agile and rapid - and said AI could help drive that change;
• It all sounded a bit Dominic Cummings, the former Number 10 aide under Boris Johnson who launched a hiring spree for "misfits and weirdos" to drive major reform before the pandemic;
• Our Beth Rigby says Labour wants to "innovate" the service to help hit his ambitious targets for housing, infrastructure projects, and the NHS.

• The fall of the Assad regime in Syria is expected to feature in talks between the prime minister and Middle Eastern leaders today;
• Sir Keir Starmer is in the UAE for a pre-planned trip, overshadowed by the dramatic events over the weekend;
• Britain and its allies will hope this presents a chance for a reset in Syria, and Pat McFadden has even suggested the main rebel group behind the uprising might have to be removed as a terror group.

• Finally for now, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is in Brussels as part of the government's push to reboot relations with the EU;
• She has said closer ties will aid economic growth in the UK, though a reminder that there's no chance of any return to the single market or customs union.

We're expecting a statement from the foreign secretary, David Lammy, on the situation in Syria in the Commons later this afternoon

Meanwhile, the PM will be moving on to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, and we're hoping to hear from him at some point.

Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge will be live from 7pm - we'll bring you the line-up in our teatime bulletin later.

Stay with us for more updates and analysis.