#redundancies

Reform deputy leader Richard Tice has argued that “hundreds of thousands” of people could lose their jobs as a result of Labour’s “appalling” budget." (LBC, 06/12/14).

It is therefore comforting that Nigel Farage and several former Conservative MPs who have since joined Reform UK present themselves as concerned about rising employment levels. However, this concern does not appear to extend to workers in local government or the civil service.

Danny Kruger, a former Conservative MP who has publicly defended austerity policies, has stated that Reform UK intends to reduce the Whitehall civil service by approximately 13 per cent.

.“Reform UK pledges to cut 68,500 civil service jobs” (Financial Times, 15/12/25).

Rather than directing any savings from these reductions toward improving public services such as the NHS or education, Reform UK proposes to increase the bonus pool for “high‑achieving” civil servants from £100 million to £500 million.

In addition to cuts within Whitehall, Reform UK has indicated the intention to reduce staffing levels in local authorities. Local government in England and Wales employs nearly two million people. Applying a 13 per cent reduction to this workforce would imply approximately 260,000 redundancies. When combined with the proposed civil service cuts, the total number of job losses would rise to around 328,500.

During the peak period of Conservative austerity, between 2010 and 2016, the civil service workforce declined from roughly 470,000 to 384,000—a reduction of about 86,000 posts. The consequences of those cuts are well documented.

HMRC experienced reduced efficiency, longer waiting times, and increased error rates, resulting in significant losses or delays in revenue collection. The Department for Work and Pensions faced growing delays in processing claims, particularly affecting vulnerable groups such as disabled claimants. The Home Office saw a substantial increase in asylum case backlogs, contributing to the pressures visible today.

Other departments—including those responsible for environmental regulation, health and safety, and local planning—experienced staffing reductions that produced delays and declines in service quality. To compensate for diminished in‑house capacity, outsourcing to private contractors increased, as did expenditure on temporary staff and consultancy services.

A further, less visible consequence was the loss of institutional expertise. Experienced senior staff, technical specialists, and policy experts were made redundant, leading to fewer tax inspections, fewer environmental checks, and reduced court staffing—outcomes associated with lower revenue collection, increased pollution incidents, and longer delays in the justice system.

If these were the demonstrable effects of reducing civil service staffing by 86,000, the implications of a reduction on the scale proposed by Reform UK—potentially exceeding 260,000 posts—will be severe.

NPR host today: “The original ‘Avatar’ made a worldwide profit of three billion dollars -- that’s billion with a ‘B.’”

run boy run

Redundancies, by Noxnthea, Rufferto, Apit, M.K

Summary: Clint didn’t mean to kiss the Winter Soldier only days after being rescued from the Raft. He didn’t mean to trip his way into a time machine in the lab in Wakanda. He definitely, 100%, didn’t mean to spawn three alternate realities for his dumbass self to fumble through saving.

Now if only he can stop telling everyone he meets he’s from the future, rescue his loved ones from their tragic backstories, and get all three versions of James to like him as much as he likes them, he might have a chance to make this whole thing work out.

Warnings and additional tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, Time Travel Fix-It, Civil War Fix-It, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - 1990s, Timeline Shenanigans, Domestic Fluff, Accidental Child Acquisition, Pietro Lives!, one (1) implied sex scene, Swearing, excessively probably but what's new, Wakanda (Marvel), Found Family, Multiple Clints, Socialist Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Hand wavy science, Safehouses, Goats, Multiverse, Deaf Clint Barton, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, so i give them three universes to take care of that, Embedded Images

Read the fic here!

See the art by Rufferto here, here, here, and here, Apit here, and M.K. here!

The following WHOB medals have been earned for this collaboration!

Noxnthea - Writer’s Gold Medal

Rufferto - Artist’s Gold Medal, Personal Achievement 

Apit - Artist’s Gold Medal, Personal Achievement