Hollow victory....
The Chancellor is polishing his state and tax cutting image by promising to get rid of thousands of civil servants.
Besides the fact this is really about his ambition and what a small group of Tory MPs want, this is a dangerous way to go.
Brexit and covid and in fact nearly all recent problems have shown us that the British state is hollowed out and not capable of dealing with real emergencies like it once could.
From pandemic response and bed capacity in the NHS, to top civil servants who can manage complex projects it seems clear to me that the Civil Service has deliberately been allowed to wither on the vine.
Who would start out now with the ambition to be a top ambassador or mandarin? Knowing that even if they make it to the top they can be ignored, fired, bullied and demeaned by those they serve.
It does not get much coverage compared with the calls for a constitution or PR voting but reforming, broadening and deepening the competence of the Civil Service seems to me to be essential.
As that starts by showing the existing one some respect.
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.