Convicted fraudster Louise Haigh has lost responsibility for another fraud component of the Cabinet Office. Presumably come October she’ll be too busy firing out emergency alerts about how it’s a bit nippy out…
As part of the machinery of government changes on Burnham’s ascension to No10 the Cabinet Office – run by Haigh who is the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster – lost control of the Public Sector Fraud Authority. It’s not just one fraud-related operation that got moved:
“Following a machinery of government change on 21 July 2026, the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA), including the National Fraud Initiative (NFI), transferred from the Cabinet Office to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). DWP is now the Data Controller for all NFI data matching exercises.”
The National Fraud Initiative identifies fraud through data matching – it examines data shared between private and public sectors. It was moved to the Cabinet Office in 2015 after being launched in the 90s and eventually shoved under the PSFA. A complete clear-out of all fraud-related operations from under Haigh…
UPDATE: A Tory source said: “While it’s reassuring that a convicted fraudster has lost yet another responsibility for tackling fraud, the Labour Government is still failing to tackle waste and fraud in the welfare system.”
Number 10 is doubling down on the decision to activate its emergency alert system across millions of Brits’ phones on Friday evening. The PM’s spokesman insisted today that the threat of wildfires was an “emergency situation“, and “it was an entirely appropriate use of the system”. Those confused by their phone’s screams on a quiet Friday evening, as if nuclear armageddon was just minutes away, might disagree.
First Secretary of State Louise Haigh is said to have made the decision, with No10 today only claiming the call was made “at Cobra” on the insistence of fire chiefs. When it was pointed out that the chairman of the board of trustees of the National Fire Chiefs Council said it was a bad idea, the spokesman said they “hadn’t seen those comments”. The spokesman also said the alert has been triggered several times before in recent years. No one in the building appears to have read the The Boy Who Cried Wolf…
Robert Jenrick is unveiling cuts to benefits proposed by Reform. Click here to read the full policy document. The highlights are below…
- More than one million foreigners living in Britain would be banned from claiming almost all benefits.
- Extends an earlier pledge (universal credit only) to cover housing benefit, pension credit, jobseeker’s allowance, child benefit, free childcare and disability benefits.
- An estimated 1.3 million foreigners currently claim universal credit, with several hundred thousand more claiming other benefits.
- Ban would also apply to EU citizens with settled status, requiring renegotiation of the Brexit withdrawal agreement. British expats bracing themselves…
- Scrapping personal independence payments (PIP) and health-related universal credit payments. Replacing them with a “health security allowance” limited to severe cases only.
- A single in-person assessment intended to screen out “vexatious and fraudulent claims.“
That makes up more than £50 billion in total welfare savings, according to Reform. Jenrick will attack Mel Stride for his DWP record in particular. The Tories are circulating old praise Jenrick had for Stride in 2024…
Read the full policy below (it’s hefty):
Continue reading “Jenrick Lays Out Reform Plans to Cut Welfare by More Than £50 Billion”
According to Politico, Andy Burnham exchanged a series of text messages with someone impersonating White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Luckily it was only “a few messages” which were of “no significance”, and the PM eventually grew suspicious. A security disaster narrowly avoided apparently because the PM just likes to natter before saying anything important…
The British embassy in Washington reportedly alerted the White House when Burnham raised the alarm. No10 said “we do not comment on national security matters”…
Lord Khan in the Telegraph: “I hope, and I say this in a non-pompous way, that the public service I do will bring rewards in this world and the hereafter,” he says. “I’m hoping the work I do is earning me Brownie points.”
