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Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Treasury boss gets £20k bonus as growth slumps and taxes soar
The Treasury's top civil servant has been handed a bonus of up to £20,000, despite Britain's stalling growth and soaring taxes. James Bowler, the most senior official managing the UK's economy, received the uplift last year on top of a £10,000 pay rise and £5,000 pension boost, taking his total remuneration to roughly £350,000. Jessica Glover, the Treasury's director of growth and productivity, was also handed a bonus of up to £15,000 on top of a salary rise of roughly £10,000, taking her total pay including pensions to around £280,000. It comes as Britain braces for a growth slump and unemployment hits its highest rate since the pandemic in the wake of Rachel Reeves ' tax raid on businesses. Critics said the Treasury should not be rewarding 'bureaucrats' presiding over an economy that was 'performing atrociously' and warned taxpayers would be 'gobsmacked' by the revelations. The pay rises for Mr Bowler, who took on the top Treasury job in 2022, and Ms Glover, who was appointed to her role in 2023, were revealed in the department's annual accounts for 2024-25. They showed that Mr Bowler received a total salary of between £195,000 and £200,000 last year, up from £185,000-£190,000 in 2023-24. He was also handed a bonus of between £15,000 and £20,000, which he did not receive last year, and pension benefits totalling £133,000, taking his total remuneration to between £345,000 and £350,000. Ms Glover received a salary of £145,000-£150,000 last year, up from a full-time equivalent of £135,000-£140,000 the year before, as well as a bonus of £10,000-£15,000 and pension benefits of £117,000. It comes just weeks after the Governor of the Bank of England poured cold water on the Chancellor's claim that Britain's economy has turned a corner, warning that growth is slowing as high taxes bite. Official figures show GDP grew faster than expected in the three months of the year, but things are expected to slow down in the second quarter. The number of people in jobs has also slumped at the fastest rate since the pandemic in the wake of Ms Reeves' tax raid on businesses at last year's Budget. Meanwhile, experts have warned that Britain has suffered an 'almost unprecedented' plunge in productivity over the past five years in another setback for the Chancellor's growth ambitions. Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, told The Telegraph: 'The Treasury seem confused. Performance-related bonuses are for when things get better not worse. 'Perhaps their failure to grasp this simple concept is why the country is going bust if they are in charge of our finances?' Darwin Friend, the head of research at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'It should be a source of some embarrassment for the Treasury that they're handing out pay rises and bonuses to senior staff. 'The UK's economy has been performing atrociously over the past year, and while the Chancellor is the primary person to blame taxpayers will still be gobsmacked that her bureaucrats are seeing their pay packets boosted. 'The Treasury should be strictly linking the pay of all staff to economic performance from now on.' Mr Bowler was unveiled as the Treasury's permanent secretary during Liz Truss' short premiership in 2022, taking over from Sir Tom Scholar. He has spent much of his career in the department, with past briefs including director general for public spending and director general for tax and welfare. He also served as principal private secretary to both Lord Darling and Gordon Brown when they were chancellor, as well as more recently playing a senior role in the Covid taskforce. He was tipped to become the Cabinet secretary, the most senior civil servant in the country, when Ms Truss took over, but Lord Case, who has since stepped down, was kept in post instead. A Government spokesman said: 'This pay increase is in line with those of permanent secretaries across Whitehall. 'Like all others, it was set for 2024-25 in line with the recommendations of the independent Senior Salaries Review Body - with a robust framework in place to assess pay and performance. 'Decisions this Government has taken to restore economic stability have seen interest rates cut four times, a pay rise for three million workers, 380,000 jobs created and a record £120 billion in private investment coming into the UK in the past year, while the UK was also the fastest growing economy in the G7 in Q1 2025.'
The Guardian
24 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Starmer under pressure from cabinet to recognise Palestinian statehood
Keir Starmer is under pressure from cabinet ministers for the UK to immediately recognise Palestine as a state, as the global outcry grew over Israel's killing of starving civilians in Gaza. The prime minister is understood to have been urged by a number of senior ministers in different cabinet meetings over recent months that the UK should take a leading role in issuing recognition. The UK plans to formally acknowledge Palestine as part of a peace process, but only in conjunction with other western countries and 'at the point of maximum impact' – without saying what that would be. However, there has been a growing sense of desperation and horror inside the Labour cabinet over Israel's killing of starving Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and its attacks on humanitarian agencies, in recent weeks. 'We say that recognising Palestinian statehood is a really important symbol that you can only do once. But if not now, then when?' one cabinet minister said. Earlier this month, nearly 60 Labour MPs demanded the UK immediately recognises Palestine as a state, after Israel's defence minister announced plans to force all residents of Gaza into a camp on the ruins of Rafah. Israel is facing intensifying international condemnation for its actions in Gaza, with the UN secretary general, António Guterres, warning that the 'last lifelines keeping people alive [in the strip] are collapsing'. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, told British parliamentarians in a visit this month that a two-state solution was 'the only way' to build peace and stability in the region. However, diplomats say he has faced resistance from allies such as Britain and Canada over his push. France and Saudi Arabia are co-chairing a rescheduled international conference at the UN in New York later this month to discuss postwar plans for Gaza and preparations for formally acknowledging Palestine. The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, who said he felt 'appalled, sickened' by the scenes of starving Palestinians being shot as they sought food, said the UK would 'play its part' in reaching a two-state solution for the Middle East, including working with the French. 'We said we wanted that to be part of a process. But we have had no process. What we have had is mayhem and conflict. There has been no process to attach that recognition to,' he told the BBC on Tuesday. 'Why do we say that? It's because we don't just want to recognise symbolically, we want to recognise as a way of getting to the two states that sadly many are trying to thwart at this point in time. 'But there is a live debate and discussion and let me restate again my belief in two states, and two states in which Palestinians have their dignity and freedom and Israel has its security for its people. We will do all we can to achieve that in time.' In an unusual Commons intervention on Gaza, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, on Tuesday called for recognition of the state of Palestine 'while there's still a state of Palestine left to recognise'. He criticised the 'intolerable' attack by Israel on the World Health Organization's staff residence and main warehouse in Deir al-Balah on Monday, which had compromised its operations in Gaza. 'I deplore Israel's attacks on healthcare workers as well as other innocent civilians trying to access healthcare or vital aid. These actions go well beyond legitimate self-defence and undermine the prospects for peace,' he told MPs. 'I sincerely hope that the international community can come together, as the foreign secretary has been driving towards, to make sure that we see an end of this war but also that we recognise the state of Palestine while there is a state of Palestine left to recognise.' Streeting is understood to be among the cabinet ministers who have pushed for recognition of Palestine in recent cabinet meetings. The justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and the Northern Ireland secretary, Hilary Benn, are also understood to have brought up the issue. At the Commons liaison committee on Monday, the prime minister said the situation in Gaza was 'intolerable' as he repeated the UK's commitment to recognising a Palestinian state 'at a time most conducive to the prospects of peace' in the region. Israel has been fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian militant group's deadly attack on Israel in October 2023. A US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire is being discussed at talks in Doha.
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
Donald Trump pulls US out of UNESCO again over support for 'woke' causes
President Donald Trump has withdrawn the US from the United Nations' cultural and education organisation, UNESCO, for the second time. Trump pulled the country from UNESCO during his first term, and has now reversed President Joe Biden's decision to rejoin the agency. 'President Trump has decided to withdraw the United States from UNESCO – which supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes that are totally out-of-step with the commonsense policies that Americans voted for in November,' stated White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly on Tuesday. The State Department accused UNESCO of having 'a globalist, ideological agenda for international development at odds with our America First foreign policy'. The department's spokeswoman, Tammy Bruce, said that 'continued involvement in UNESCO is not in the national interest of the United States'. UNESCO was founded after World War II with the objective of promoting peace internationally through collaborative efforts in culture, education and science. The Paris-based agency is known for pushing for literacy, sex education, women's equality and clean water, among other issues. It has worked to set ethical standards around artificial intelligence. 'UNESCO is the United Nations organisation that promotes cooperation in education, science, culture and communication to foster peace worldwide,' states its website. 'The Organisation provides key services for its Member States, setting global norms and standards, developing tools for international cooperation, producing knowledge for public policies and building global networks of sites and institutions inscribed on its lists.' Bruce stated that one of the reasons for the US's withdrawal from UNESCO is 'the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organisation'. The agency has previously been accused of being politically biased in favor of Palestine. The US's contribution makes up 8% of UNESCO's total budget, which is a smaller portion than what America has provided to other global bodies. 'However regrettable, this announcement was anticipated, and UNESCO has prepared for it,' stated the agency's director general, Audrey Azoulay. Trump has already pulled the US out of the World Health Organisation and the UN human rights council. The US first withdrew from UNESCO in 1983 when then-President Ronald Reagan decided that the agency 'has extraneously politicized virtually every subject it deals with' and 'has exhibited hostility toward a free society, especially a free market and a free press, and it has demonstrated unrestrained budgetary expansion'. UNESCO is perhaps most well known for designating World Heritage sites. It has identified 1,248 sites since 1972. It has named 26 sites in the US, including numerous national parks, landmarks, cultures and universities. They include Yosemite National Park in 1984, Olympic National Park in 1981, Everglades National Park in 1979 and Yellowstone National Park in 1978. UNESCO also designated the Statue of Liberty in 1984, Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1979, and most recently the 20th century architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright in 2019. UNESCO has 194 member countries and 12 associate members. More Trending Member countries include Canada, China, France, Germany, Israel, Iraq, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Territories that are not responsible for their international relations have been admitted as associate members. While the majority of countries are members of UNESCO, several nations including the US have chosen not to be part of the organisation. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Ellen DeGeneres fled the States – now she must acknowledge her privilege MORE: Donald Trump's attorney general will 'reach out to' Ghislaine Maxwell over Epstein files MORE: Donald Trump releases 230,000 FBI files on Martin Luther King's assassination – what is in them?
