Yesterday Torsten Bell’s brother Olaf was confirmed as new director of the No 10 Policy Unit. Now Torsten himself is back in the Treasury thanks to the mini-reshuffle from Tulip Siddiq’s resignation and a nod from Starmer…
This is 15 years since Bell was last there as Alistair Darling’s SpAd. After that he designed the infamous EdStone as Miliband’s director of policy before leaving after the dismal 2015 loss. Anyway, here is what the government’s new Treasury minister recommended in his recent landmark report as head of the Resolution Foundation:
We trade one dodgy Treasury minister for another…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”