Louise Haigh as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and first secretary will not have oversight of the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) which helps departments to “understand and reduce the impact of fraud.” That is moving to the Department of Work and Pensions as part of the overhaul of the Cabinet Office this morning. Chalk that up as a Guido victory…
The government still states of Haigh, who has a fraud conviction: “She is responsible for:
Co-conspirators can decide whether they think that’s appropriate…
UPDATE: A Cabinet Office spokesman responded:
“Changes to departmental structures were agreed ahead of Ministerial appointments. Several functions are being moved out of the Cabinet Office to slim down the centre of government, this includes the Public Sector Fraud Authority moving to the DWP because most work tackling fraud happens in that department. Claiming otherwise is completely inaccurate.”
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.”