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I’ve read a lot of articles on working from home over the last few years. Some thoughtful, some less so, some rabid and then there’s this. A new genre.

My grandfather George (on the left) was called up on the day war broke out, as he was a Territorial. He served every day of WWII, most of it in North Africa. No one escapes unscathed from war but at least he was able to come home. Much to celebrate today, much to remember.

As I told Civil Service World, language is important in these situations and a former Defence minister accusing officials of appeasement undermines the difficult role that civil servants have to play in advising ministers on international conflicts like Ukraine. civilserviceworld.com/news/article/u…

It's always good to visit our friends in AHCPS - our sister union in Ireland - at their annual conference. All the more so to hear Robert Murtagh - FDA National Officer NI 🟣 in his role as Unions 21 Director for Ireland talk about its work on trade union renewal, helping unions to build capacity & capability.

Civil servants need to be able to build careers for the longer-term across the UK, including in London where there will now be fewer opportunities. As I told BBC News (UK), we now need to hear quickly from the departments affected how these closures will be managed.

Thirty years ago Quarry House in Leeds opened, moving civil servants out of London. As I told BBC Leeds, civil servants have relocated any number of times in the past. If there’s strong political will to drive it through, which I think this govt does have, then it will happen.

And we’re off!!!

Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office Georgia Gould tells our conference: “The FDA has been a source of advice, partnership and… robust challenge.”

Representing the UK’s interests across the world is a vital and complex task. To help understand the challenges I’m meeting with FCDO & other govt department civil servants at our Embassy in Warsaw. Poland faces some extraordinary challenges following the Russian invasion of

Few trade unions have a history as significant as Solidarność, so it was an honour to meet their Deputy President Bartłomiej Mickiewicz to talk about the challenges faced by trade unions in Poland and in particular the public sector.

Day 2 in Warsaw and I’m seeing UK plc in action at the UK-Polish Airport Development Forum. Poland is expanding its airport capacity significantly and the embassy has a key role in supporting UK businesses compete and win contracts, particularly in state owned sectors.

It was great to meet Elżbieta Aleksandrowicz, Maria Miklińska, Jacek Kraj, Łukasz Kuna & Magdalena Chojnowska from the All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions (OPZZ) on the many shared challenges in growing our unions and responding to the under investment in public services.

We all want improvements to public services. A civil service that can attract the right skills is essential to that. Cutting the pension scheme will only make that harder. My opinion piece for The Times and The Sunday Times. thetimes.com/business-money…

This isn’t about the country being broke. It’s been a political choice for nearly two decades to suppress salaries in the civil service. All the evidence is there about comparable jobs and salaries, but it has been deliberately ignored by ministers.

As I told Tom Swarbrick, while it is welcome to have a government that accepts independent pay body recommendations, what we really need is a long term plan to address systemic pay issues.

He’s not quite as good a musician as he is a trade union leader, but it’s close! Great to hear Paul Nowak play at The Betsy Trotwood with other amazing musicians, including the haunting voice of Ella Spencer, and who’s more upbeat than Ian Prowse & Nico

As I told George Parker, successive governments may have spent a great deal of energy talking about cuts, yet in reality they piled promises on top of promises. The number of civil servants had to grow to try and match those political commitments, on.ft.com/3SlQ5pc

As I told Alex Phillips, the civil service needs stability and a plan that matches commitments to resources. That way we will get a slimmed down, more efficient and more effective civil service.

As I told Lewis Goodall, much like the spending rounds for central government, cutting public spending and public services is about political priorities. There are no mythical billions to be saved just by doing things differently.