According to Labour sources a new SpAd is about to enter Downing Street – John Stevens, the current Mirror political editor, is leaving the Lobby to spin for the government. Stevens is going to work for Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Labour heavyweight Pat McFadden…
No stranger to a scoop, Stevens will have to fend off his Lobby colleagues from inside government. From memory the last Mirror political editor to make the jump to Downing Street was Bad Al Campbell, the jury is out on how well that went. Guido has approached Stevens for comment…
UPDATE: Move confirmed.
Speaking on Times Radio, former Home Secretary David Blunkett spoke about overdiagnosis of mental problems:
“Let’s distinguish those who are really severely mentally ill, diagnosed with things that require prolonged medical and diagnostic treatment. My wife and I talk about this a lot, because she’s a retired GP, about the fact that you can be sad without being ill. You can be momentarily depressed because your boyfriend or girlfriend’s just thrown you and you’re not mentally ill. You can even have mild issues, which can be dealt with with the right kind of support, but it doesn’t make you mentally ill. So we’ve got a real task, I think, to get the psychology, if you like, of this over. But there are things where you definitely need medical intervention, and there are other things where you need good friends, you need good connectivity, and you need a job.”