It’s a phrase that dates from an episode of The West Wing, the cult TV drama about White House staff, back in 2000 – “Take Out The Trash Day”.

It means a perfect opportunity for politicians to bury bad news, releasing embarrassing stories and escaping scrutiny by political opponents and the media.

Critics claim it’s an age-old government tactic in Whitehall too, as governments unleash a last-minute rush of activity on the day or days before parliament rises.

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This time, as MPs left Westminster for a six-week summer break, there were damning reports on migrant Channel crossings, a bungled bribery probe by the Serious Fraud Office, and crime figures hitting their highest level for 20 years.

At Westminster, on the final day before MPs break for the summer, ministers published 15 written statements, including the Treasury revealing the divorce bill for leaving the EU is up by £5bn to £42.5bn, more anti-tank weapons for Ukraine and a self-congratulating four pages on “government delivery” by Boris Johnson.

Disclosures in the latest “Take Out The Trash” included:

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“Where is the home secretary?” fumed Labour’s Yvette Cooper in response. “It’s a total disgrace that she has refused to meet the inspector, tried to bury his report, and is now in hiding.”

“This report lays bare a catalogue of woeful mismanagement and inexplicable misjudgements at the top of the SFO that allowed the architects of the Unaoil fraud to escape justice, and stitched up one of their junior staff to take the fall,” Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry responded.

A total of 6.3 million crimes were recorded in the year leading up to March 2022, four per cent higher than the previous all-time high of 6.1 million in 2019/2020.

On Ukraine, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced in a written statement to MPs that Britain will send scores of artillery guns and more than 1,600 anti-tank weapons in the latest supply of arms.

And following his “Hasta la vista, baby!” farewell to MPs in the Commons, Mr Johnson said in a valedictory written statement: “I am proud of our record in office since 2019. I remain determined that we continue to deliver in our final weeks.”

Benefit cuts and pay rises

Mr Johnson’s latest “Take Out The Trash” tally is modest compared to some in recent years, however.

The governments of David Cameron and Theresa May announced bad news on controversial issues such as the “bedroom tax”, food banks, benefit cuts and climate deals sabotaged.

It’s thought the record was 424 documents, including 36 ministerial statements, at Christmas 2015, including £16bn lost to tax fraud, £2m on ministerial cars, curbing the power of the House of Lords, a police funding cut and rejecting proposals to cut deaths in prisons.

Among those announcements was also the bill for Whitehall special advisers rising from £8.4m to £9.2m, including a 42% pay rise for then Chancellor George Osborne’s chief of staff, Thea Rogers. She is now his fiancée and they have a baby son.

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