Starmer at PMQs:
“Matthew Doyle worked for many years in public service. When people leave a role there are often conversations about other roles they may apply for… Nothing came of it.”
There we have it…
Guido can reveal that Cabinet Office permanent secretary Cat Little is due to leave her role. Labour’s efforts to replace personnel in the hulking Cabinet Office continue…
Guido first reported on concerns around Little’s performance in summer last year when a Downing Street source noted that she “seems to promise the earth all the time but can’t deliver.” Part of the Cabinet Office’s dysfunction with additional blame placed on Chris Wormald and Second Permanent Secretary Clara Swinson – both of which are now gone…
Little has served as Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service and Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office since February 2024. She has – in conjunction with Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo – been at the forefront of efforts to access UK Security Vetting information on Peter Mandelson. That involved weeks of argument with Olly Robbins at the FCDO. Little is due before a hearing of the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee tomorrow to discuss the matter…
A Whitehall source said: “There is a growing unease about Cat Little, who herself is not best liked around the system.” The source added that according to Whitehall chatter Little’s departure from government has been waylaid by the ascension of Antonia Romeo and the subsequent Mandelson vetting affair.
A Downing Street source said that Little is “due a move,” adding: “She’s not got a series of recent Permanent Secretary roles and is out of road. She and Antonia are now agreeing how and when she goes.” There’s a Perm Sec vacancy at DBT if Little fancies another go…
Efforts to replace Little will be marred by Starmer’s collapse of relations with the Civil Service. A Whitehall source said: “Not many people are going to want that job.” Quite…
UPDATE: A No10 spokesman said: “Cat is a high performing permanent secretary with a brilliant record of public service and modern leadership. There is absolutely no suggestion that her position is in question. She is a valued member of the civil service top team.”
| 1. Mike Wood | CON |
| 2. Calvin Bailey | LAB |
| 3. Patrick Hurley | LAB |
| 4. Ben Obese-Jecty | CON |
| 5. Meg Hillier | LAB |
| 6. Martin Rhodes | LAB |
| 7. Richard Foord | LIB |
| 8. Lincoln Jopp | CON |
| 9. Jenny Riddell-Carpenter | LAB |
| 10. Vicky Foxcroft | LAB |
| 11. Luke Akehurst | LAB |
| 12. Oliver Ryan | LAB |
| 13. Rushanara Ali | LAB |
| 14. Rachael Maskell | LAB |
Some damning research from Ipsos’ tracker, which shows that optimism in the economy is at its lowest level since records began:
“Net economic optimism in Britain has fallen to the lowest levels ever recorded since Ipsos began collecting this data in 1978. 78% of Brits expect the economy to get worse over the next 12 months, 12% think it will stay the same, and just 6% think it will improve – giving a net Ipsos economic optimism index score of -72.”
Are the securonomics in the room with us right now?
For Lambeth – Morgan McSweeney and Steve Reed’s original hunting ground against the hard left – to go Green would rock what ideological basis exists for the Starmer project. Revolutions are infinite…
Douglas Alexander – a friend of Starmer’s – was asked on Sky News if the PM will be in post at the next election. He wasn’t so sure himself:
“I think he will. There are no certainties but of course I think he will lead and I think he should because, frankly, on the biggest call in this parliament he’s exercised the right judgment, which is to keep us out of someone else’s war.”
