Amid the massive Angela Rayner blowup Downing Street SpAds were invited to a regular ‘SpAd School’ event today. This was the first with new overarching communications director Tim Allan. An old Blairite hand and close confidant of Alastair Campbell…
Guido hears Allan started off the meeting by saying: “I haven’t arrived with a plan.” Good to know…
He continued with spiel that old hand SpAds will know well, saying Allan “wants to learn what works well and doesn’t work” before he made any changes to the operation. No mention of Rayner – SpAd school avoids ongoing political nuclear bombs….
Guido hears Allan spoke for ten minutes – five of which was dominated by a vintage joke about Neil Kinnock being hard done-by by the press. Here comes the ‘veteran’ experience…
Government sources express concern that Allan – Downing Street communications director in the early New Labour years in 1997 – is ill-equipped to handle the current febrile political situation. To infinity, and beyond….
Speaking about Morgan McSweeney’s resignation, skills minister Jacqui Smith told Times Radio:
“It’s clearly not ideal but I do understand why Morgan, as he explained, decided to resign at this point. But the important thing as you say is how we both tackle what this Epstein and Mandelson scandal has identified and also how we make sure, as the prime minister is absolutely determined to, that we continue the change that the country needs and that’s what I’m focusing on this morning.”