Today’s PMQs session will be a tough one, unemployment is up, the defence secretary is in the wars and the Health Bill is falling apart. If you notice something a little different about Cameron’s performance at Prime Minister’s Questions later it will be because Peter Campbell, who has been in charge of Dave’s PMQs briefings since the moment he became Tory leader, has joined the Downing Street exodus. He left Cameron’s Private Office last week.

Something tells Guido that this won’t be the last we hear of Mr Campbell. The PMQs briefer is a key job in any leader’s office and it was a fresh faced young Conservative Party researcher called David that used to do the honours for John Major.

He was the future once…

The big Downing Street change around continues. There has been much speculation that policy head James O’Shaughnessy was on his way out. With the re-jigging of Ameet Gill to replace Tim Chatwin as Head of Strategy, plus the arrival of Julian Glover in the speech-writing team, Guido has been waiting for the expected announcement. To no avail…

Guido tried calling O’Shaughnessy’s extension to be greeted by a confused staffer who first claimed that James was on “annual leave”, when Guido asked if the policy wonk was ever coming back from his “holiday” they said they didn’t know what was going on. Other Downing Street sources are refusing to deny O’Shaughnessy has left the building. Guido understands that a civil servant, Chris Brown, is running the policy unit.

Shades of dysfunctionality in Downing Street…

CV:

• The fifty year old Oxford and LSE graduate has worked for Chancellors Lamont, Clarke and Brown.
• Became Blair’s Principal Private Secretary in 1999.
• Spent 2003 to 2007 at Morgan Stanley
• Returned to the Cabinet Office in 2007 in a strategy role for Gordon.
• Since January 2008 Heywood has been Permanent Secretary at Number 10.

Downing Street sources confirm he gets the promotion.

UPDATE: The FT report “A new “head of the civil service” will take over the admin responsibilities for the whole of Whitehall. Sir David Normington is to launch an internal competition to recruit this person. The Cabinet Office will have a new, dedicated permanent secretary. It is Ian Watmore, currently head of the Cabinet Office’s ‘efficiency and reform’ group.” GOD’s resignation letter is here.

It was well known that Cabinet Sectary Gus O’Donnell was on his way out, and rumours were afoot that there was some consternation about appropriate candidates to fill his boots. Well it seems the plan is to split up his job instead:

BREAKING NEWS Big news in world of Whitehall, Cabinet Secretary and Civil Service head Sir Gus O'Donnell to quit and his job split in two—
Christopher Hope (@christopherhope) October 11, 2011

Jeremy Heywood is in the line for the newly defined Cabinet Secretary role, but was expected to get the whole thing. Christopher Hope reports that a Head of Civil Service is still to be decided.

GOD isn’t going until the end of the year, which makes you wonder about the timing of such an announcement…

UPDATE: It certainly wasn’t GOD himself that leaked this news. According to the Guardian’s Jonathan Haynes, he is currently in a meeting with the MoD Permanent Secretary Ursula Brennan trying to sort the Fox investigation out.

Downing Street says:

“The Prime Minister has now seen the interim findings of the Ministry of Defence’s permanent secretary review into Liam Fox’s relationship with Mr Adam Werrity, and discussed them with the Cabinet secretary. 

It is clear, as Liam Fox himself said yesterday, that serious mistakes were made in allowing the distinction between professional responsibilities and personal loyalties to be blurred – and this has clearly raised concerns about impropriety and potential conflicts of interest.

While the permanent secretary’s initial conclusion is that no classified or other defence related official information was discussed with or given to Mr Werrity by the secretary of state or the department, it is clear that much tighter procedures are needed within the department to ensure that the ministerial code is properly adhered to in future. 

Following these interim findings the Prime Minister has asked the Cabinet secretary to work with the permanent secretary to complete the report, addressing all the remaining questions that have been raised by this issue.”

Fox survives to fight another day, but new procedures are not needed, the old rules just need to be stuck to.

While we are mooting the idea of an investigation into Fox and his dubious relationship with the Ministerial Code, shouldn’t the Cabinet Secretary be having a look at the weekend’s other casualty? Huhne has admitted to lying on the record about briefing against his cabinet colleague Theresa May. He said the message he accidentally sent to the world was meant for a staffer when in fact it was to his old Westminster School friend, and Guardian political editor, Patrick Wintour. Psycho-Huhne was also caught telling a barefaced untruth about Philip Hammond, he also arguably has fallen foul of the rules by undermining May and her policies:

Media interviews, speeches etc

8.3 In all cases other than those described in paragraph 6.6, the principle of collective responsibility applies (see also paragraph 2.1). Ministers should ensure that their statements are consistent with collective Government policy. Ministers should take special care in referring to subjects which are the responsibility of other Ministers.

8.5 Ministers invited to broadcast on radio, television and/or webcasts in a political or private capacity should consider if such a broadcast would have a bearing on another department’s responsibilities, in which case they should clear the matter with the ministerial colleague concerned before agreeing to the invitation”

What if GOD was one of us, eh…

Hearing rumour Ameet Gill, Cameron's chief speech writer, replacing Tim Chatwin as head of strategic comms #CPC11—
Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) October 05, 2011

UPDATE 16.14: Confirmed.

Yesterday’s catflap has prompted speculation about whether or not Cameron is or was going to use the line “The Liberals used to shoot your dog…now they steal your cat!”

Guido first reported the wisecrack being overheard in the conference bar on Monday, learning only later that Dave had used the very same line in a private speech to party bigwigs very recently.

If Dave is short of a line from the speech as a result, Guido has a few he could chuck in. Dave should praise IDS lavishly for the work he is doing on welfare reform, as the conference audience inevitably gives a clap and cheer he could throw out the line “unlike other parties, in this party we cheer rather than boo our former leaders”. Maybe some light-hearted reference to Catflap should be worked in: “In cabinet Ken Clarke told me that a policy proposal we were discussing was incompatible with EU law, Theresa May said we had nothing to worry about so long as we kept the Downing Street cat…” We’re here all week, have a canape…

Paul Waugh has confirmed that a locked and hidden Twitter account is in fact that of the Downing Street Director of Communications:

Given that Craig Oliver is using his job title and place of work in his Twitter name, Guido feels we have a right to know what he’s pushing. As well as being nosy…

It came as surprise when PR Week broke the news on Friday that Tim Chatwin was leaving his Downing Street strategic comms role:

“…Tim is an absolute bolt out of the blue. He’s an uber-loyalist – I always thought he’d be last man standing.”

What is less surprising is where he is heading – Google. 

Back in July the Sunday Times’s FoIs revealed that senior Downing Street officials have had over twenty meetings with Google since the election. Accusations of preferential treatment were thrown around when Hilton, whose wife is a Google VP, did not declare all of his meetings with the group. This is especially murky given that Google are lobbying hard for changes to UK copyright law. Now they have poached a key cog in Cameroon machine. It’s all rather too cosy for Guido’s liking. A long spell in the cooler is surely a necessity before the Chatwin hits sunny California…

UPDATE: Policy wonk James O’Shaughnessy is also said to be off. Though that one has done the rounds many times…