Latest news with #SimonCase
Powys County Times
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Powys County Times
Former Whitehall chief Simon Case takes seat on red benches in House of Lords
Former top civil servant Simon Case has taken his seat in the House of Lords. The 46-year-old, who served four prime ministers, joins the independent crossbenches in the unelected chamber, which scrutinises legislation and acts as a check on the Government. Lord Case wore the traditional scarlet robes for the short introduction ceremony in the chamber, where he swore allegiance to the King. He was supported by former Whitehall chief Lord Butler of Brockwell and Lord Chartres, a retired bishop of London. Lord Case became cabinet secretary and head of the Civil Service aged just 41 in September 2020, having previously served as private secretary to the Duke of Cambridge. He had also worked for the GCHQ intelligence agency. He stepped down from the top Whitehall job at the end of 2024 on health grounds after a turbulent four years in the role, which included the Covid-19 pandemic, Tory infighting, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the death of Queen Elizabeth II. His tenure was not without controversy, as he was forced to recuse himself from leading an investigation into the 'Partygate' scandal following allegations his office had held a Christmas event during lockdown. Lord Case was not one of those fined over the episode. Appointed by Boris Johnson, he held the post under the subsequent administrations of Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer. He was succeeded by Sir Chris Wormald.
The Independent
11 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Former Whitehall chief Simon Case takes seat on red benches in House of Lords
Former top civil servant Simon Case has taken his seat in the House of Lords. The 46-year-old, who served four prime ministers, joins the independent crossbenches in the unelected chamber, which scrutinises legislation and acts as a check on the Government. Lord Case wore the traditional scarlet robes for the short introduction ceremony in the chamber, where he swore allegiance to the King. He was supported by former Whitehall chief Lord Butler of Brockwell and Lord Chartres, a retired bishop of London. Lord Case became cabinet secretary and head of the Civil Service aged just 41 in September 2020, having previously served as private secretary to the Duke of Cambridge. He had also worked for the GCHQ intelligence agency. He stepped down from the top Whitehall job at the end of 2024 on health grounds after a turbulent four years in the role, which included the Covid-19 pandemic, Tory infighting, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the death of Queen Elizabeth II. His tenure was not without controversy, as he was forced to recuse himself from leading an investigation into the 'Partygate' scandal following allegations his office had held a Christmas event during lockdown. Lord Case was not one of those fined over the episode. Appointed by Boris Johnson, he held the post under the subsequent administrations of Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer. He was succeeded by Sir Chris Wormald.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Whitehall chief Simon Case takes seat on red benches in House of Lords
Former top civil servant Simon Case has taken his seat in the House of Lords. The 46-year-old, who served four prime ministers, joins the independent crossbenches in the unelected chamber, which scrutinises legislation and acts as a check on the Government. Lord Case wore the traditional scarlet robes for the short introduction ceremony in the chamber, where he swore allegiance to the King. He was supported by former Whitehall chief Lord Butler of Brockwell and Lord Chartres, a retired bishop of London. Lord Case became cabinet secretary and head of the Civil Service aged just 41 in September 2020, having previously served as private secretary to the Duke of Cambridge. He had also worked for the GCHQ intelligence agency. He stepped down from the top Whitehall job at the end of 2024 on health grounds after a turbulent four years in the role, which included the Covid-19 pandemic, Tory infighting, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the death of Queen Elizabeth II. His tenure was not without controversy, as he was forced to recuse himself from leading an investigation into the 'Partygate' scandal following allegations his office had held a Christmas event during lockdown. Lord Case was not one of those fined over the episode. Appointed by Boris Johnson, he held the post under the subsequent administrations of Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer. He was succeeded by Sir Chris Wormald.
The Guardian
02-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Former UK civil service chief calls Xi Jinping a ‘dictator' over plans to reunify Taiwan
The former head of the UK's civil service has described the Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a 'dictator' and said Donald Trump had put 'helpful pressure' on Europe to increase defence spending. Simon Case, who served as cabinet secretary until December when he stepped down on health grounds, said China had sent a clear message to 'prepare for serious conflict' in Taiwan. The UK has committed to spend the equivalent of 2.6% of GDP in 2027, and it and other Nato members have signed up to increasing spending to 5% by 2035 on militaries and related security. The increased defence spending came after years of Trump raising questions over the future of the Nato alliance – and whether the US would come to allies' defence – if other countries did not increase spending. Case argued for the UK and Europe to increase the pace of increased defence spending. He was speaking at an event in London paid for by Britain's biggest weapons maker, BAE Systems. The manufacturer of artillery, fighter jets and nuclear submarines is expected to be one of the biggest corporate beneficiaries of increased spending on weaponry. Case said: 'There's some actually quite helpful pressure, if you ask me – [this is a] slightly unpopular view – from the White House about us pulling our fingers out in Europe and actually stepping up to the plate on our defence spending. 'But the reason that matters is because President Xi has publicly set out his timetable for, as he would put it, reunifying Taiwan. We're incredibly bad at reading what dictators say in public. We spend millions of pounds on secret intelligence, which is absolutely amazing, but we're really bad at missing what they actually say in public, which is, this is the timetable at which I want everybody to be ready for us to prepare for serious conflict.' Xi exercises near absolute power in China, but the country has strongly objected to the use of the label 'dictator', including by the former US president Joe Biden. The UK's recent strategic defence review highlighted Chinese military exercises around Taiwan as a driver of global instability. Case also raised the threat of Russia starting further conflicts in Europe, beyond Ukraine. In February Case took over as chair of the government-funded 'Team Barrow', which is described as a 'partnership between the government, Westmorland and Furness council, and BAE Systems' to support the local economy, which is heavily dependent on BAE's nuclear submarine shipyard.
BBC News
27-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Labour didn't do enough thinking, ex-top official says
The Labour Party had not done "enough thinking" about some of its plans before taking office, the former top civil servant has Case told the BBC Sir Keir Starmer's top team "weren't good enough at communicating what [they] wanted to be done" in the early days of the Labour Case said he did not think it was "right to describe it as a chaos".Case, who served four prime ministers, was the most senior official in government from September 2020 to December 2024, when he stepped down on health grounds. The cabinet secretary role involves advising the prime minister, leading implementation of the government's policies and managing other high-level civil was in the role for the six months after Labour won the general election last year and was involved in the transition between early months were marked by riots following the stabbings of young girls at a dance class in Southport, a row over ministers accepting freebies, and Sue Gray leaving her role as Sir Keir's chief of his first interview about the early days of the Labour government, Case was asked whether ministers had done enough thinking about what they were going to do in told the BBC: "There were some elements where not enough thinking had been done."There were areas where, sitting in the centre of government, early in a new regime, the prime minister and his team, including me as his sort of core team, knew what we wanted to do, but we weren't communicating that effectively across all of government."He continued: "Definitely I would say, early on, we weren't good enough at communicating what wanted to be done and what that needed to be to everybody."But he added: "I absolutely don't think it is right to describe it as a chaos." 'Difficult' start Case said the scandal over gifts and hospitality, which unfolded in government in the summer of 2024, was a result of "naivety" on the part of Sir Keir and his said it was a "very difficult" period for the prime minister because it meant his "loved ones [being] pulled into politics".Speaking about his relationship with Sue Gray for the first time, Case said that it was a "very unusual" decision by Sir Keir to appoint her as his chief of taking up the role, Gray had spent decades as a civil servant and became a household name as the official appointed to investigate lockdown parties in Downing Street during Boris Johnson's said her move into party politics from the civil service "was a source of enormous controversy within the civil service".He said because Gray had arrived in Sir Keir's operation less than a year before the general election, it meant the team "wasn't sort of fully bedded in and tested" prior to entering was replaced by Morgan McSweeney, who was previously chief adviser to the prime minister and masterminded Labour's general election said the prime minister's decision to replace Gray with McSweeney "was a very good appointment" because "I could see right from the first day of having conversations with him how sharp a political operator he was". In a separate interview with the BBC, cabinet minister Pat McFadden also suggested for the first time the prime minister had sacked Sue Gray as his chief of her departure was announced by Downing Street in October 2024, it included a statement from Gray saying that she had "chosen to stand aside".McFadden said: "I think it's a great shame it didn't work out, but after a few months the prime minister decided it wasn't working out and made the change."He added: "One thing I think that people have learnt about Keir Starmer is if he thinks something isn't working out or is not right, he will make the necessary change."The interviews with Case and McFadden feature in Starmer's Stormy Year, a BBC Radio 4 documentary available on BBC Sounds and on Radio 4 on Monday at 11am.
