Howard promises Whitehall job cuts

Michael Howard today pledged to axe tens of thousands of officials from the civil service payroll in a move which drew fury from unions.

The Opposition leader vowed to impose a freeze on recruitment to Whitehall departments. He said the move was part of his vision of giving ordinary people more control over their lives.

Senior Tories claim the policy would save billions of pounds. Last year 27,840 civil servants retired or moved out of Whitehall and simply failing to replace them would have saved about £472 million, implying a saving on the payroll of more than £2 billion in five years.

Mr Howard said: "We have over half a million civil servants. That's seven times as many people as attended last year's FA Cup final."

He said civil servants were given too much to do under Labour. "The work of any bureaucracy will expand to fill the man hours available. By reducing its human resources we will reduce government's ability to do what it does not need to do."

However, shadow chancellor Oliver Letwin admitted the policy would not win any votes.

He said: "I do not expect this measure, taken in isolation, will achieve a single additional vote at a general election."

A spokesman for the Public and Commercial Services Union said Mr Howard "cannot do this without badly affecting services to ordinary people."