Cummings has said he will hand over material to the inquiry. Will the committee ask the Government to do likewise?
Plus: If there’s a reshuffle it’ll surely be in late July or early September. And: My interview with David Amess.
Yesterday, he bent the passage of time – by giving the Commons the chance to carry out a Covid reckoning before the inquiry is up and running.
The pace of departure, the allegations about him and how they’re being handled are all inextricably linked.
He may move out of Number Ten altogether for work and into the Cabinet Office at 70 Whitehall.
In that sense, his speech could easily have been given by a much more fitting figure for the Ditchley Foundation: Tony Blair.
Three cheers for three reforms: of the civil service, of Ministers and of one that this Government tends to avoid – of public services.
“The new Sue Gray” – responsible for policing propriety and ethics – may yet be asked to rule whether Johnson’s adviser has behaved improperly.
Assuming no new revelations or his adviser’s resignation, he can either tough it out or order an inquiry.
As with Brexit, much of the Tory family finds itself pitted against the permanent State on how Britain aligns itself in the world.
At the heart of the Rutnam row is its reservations not only about how the post-Brexit journey is being negotiated, but about taking it in the first place.
It must necessarily have a worldview. The question is whether or not this has caught up with the Brexit vote.
He has a clear plan to leave the EU, and as a former Brexit Secretary I can say that it is credible and has my support.
The overhaul of the civil service continues with a new (and notably less Eurocentric) head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.