News - Middle East: Tens of thousands of civil servants in the UK are set to be laid off by the government in order to save money, a senior minster says.

Speaking to Sky News on Friday, Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency Jacob Rees-Mogg said the government was trying to get the civil service “back to normal” after taking in “extra people” to deal with the UK’s departure from the European Union and the pandemic.

“I know it sounds eye-catching, but it’s just getting back to the civil service that we had in 2016,” Rees-Mogg, said, confirming media reports that 91,000 Whitehall jobs were to go.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already asked cabinet ministers to report back within a month on how they can reduce the size of their departmental workforce to the 2016 levels.

Confirming the number of lay-offs, Johnson told the Daily Mail newspaper, “We have got to cut the cost of government to reduce the cost of living,” adding that civil service had become “swollen” during the coronavirus pandemic.