Civil Service Overhaul if Rishi Sunak will Elected UK PM: Pledges Mr. Sunak

London: On Tuesday (16.08.22) Rishi Sunak, the British Indian former Chancellor in the race to be chosen the British Prime Minister, vowed a significant update of the country’s civil service to make a “sharper, leaner” bureaucracy if he takes charge at 10 Downing Street on September 5.

Sunak, who is facing Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in the Conservative Party leadership political election to succeed Boris Johnson, needs civil servants to spend an extended period of their profession outside government jobs in industry to enlarge their experience.

Under a Sunak-drove government, they will never again get pay rewards given the life span of their service however performance instead.

“As Chancellor, I saw parts of the British Civil Service at its best, delivering world-class COVID support schemes in record time. But the bloated post-COVID state needs a shake-up so I will create a sharper, leaner civil service,” said Sunak.

“I’ll press ahead with cuts to back office Civil Service headcount, recruiting and retaining the brightest and best. I’ll strengthen civil servants’ experience beyond Whitehall, allow ministers to bring in more external expertise, and bring in performance pay so we have a truly Rolls Royce service delivering for and accountable to the British people,” he said.

It came as both Sunak and Truss took their leadership election to Scotland this week, promising further examination of the decayed Scottish government and dismissing Scottish National Party (SNP) requests for a mandate on the locale’s freedom from the United Kingdom.

“The future of the United Kingdom is bright but our union must work together, each nation shoulder to shoulder, to get there. We must defeat the collective challenges threatening the health of our public services. Under my plans, the UK government will play its part, but the same must be reciprocated by Holyrood,” said Sunak.

Speaking ahead of hustings in Perth, Scotland, to persuade Tory individuals who will cast a ballot in the postal and online votes to choose another party chief, Truss said she was “totally energetic about Scotland and the United Kingdom” and focused on delivering jobs, development and opportunity.

The two candidates have won the support of various Scottish Conservative members from Parliament in Westminster and members from the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) in Holyrood. In any case, the party’s Scottish leader, Douglas Ross, has said he won’t be openly backing either, saying he will “work with whoever emerges victorious”.

The Scotland occasion this week points to the seventh hustings of the Conservative leadership campaign, which will finish up on September 2.

It comes as Truss, seen as a leader in the race with most Tory assessments of public sentiment showing her triumph, got one more lift with 11 Tory government whips, in charge of party discipline, backing the Cabinet minister.

“The chief whip has allowed whips to declare their leadership allegiances since the contest moved out of Parliament,” said a representative for the whips’ office.

“This follows the chief whip allowing for whips to inform their local members of their personal preference. The chief whip and the deputy chief whip are remaining neutral,” the representative said.