Another one of Gordon Brown's close aides is to leave Downing Street. Spencer Livermore, his director of political strategy, who has worked with Brown for 10 years, is jumping ship to join advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi and Fallon (SSF).
Insiders say he was not pushed, and that the PM tried hard to persuade him to stay. But his departure is being linked to the arrival of a new broom brought in to improve Number 10's performance - Stephen Carter, the former Ofcom boss, who became head of strategy in January. There has been some tension between Carter and Livermore, who feared there was a whispering campaign against him and is getting out of the hothouse before it gets even hotter.
Tom Scholar, the Downing Street chief of staff, has also left, returning to the Treasury. The unmistakable new powers in the bunker are Carter and Jeremy Heywood, the Number 10 permanent secretary. Other departures from Brown's inner circle are possible.
Livermore's services to Brown will not be lost forever. He will play a part in the next general election because Saatchi & Saatchi has won the Labour Party advertising account. An astute reader of opinion polls and focus groups, Livermore was unfairly blamed for the Great Non-Election Fiasco of last autumn. Friends say all he did was to deliver the latest reports from the frontline in his normal dry manner.
In fact, if Brown had taken his earlier advice, he might not be in such a bad place today. Livermore warned his boss that inheritance tax was becoming a touchstone issue in Middle England and urged him to cut in his final Budget as Chancellor a year ago. Brown rejected the idea, forcing Alistair Darling into a panic response in October after the Tories announced their plans to reduce the tax - a move which proved popular and helped to dissuade Brown from calling an election.
Is there any truth in the rumour that it's actually Jeremy Heywood who's been running the country for the last dozen years (apart from his brief 'sabbatical')?
Posted by: Carin | Tuesday, 18 March 2008 at 09:49 AM
The question surley is no longer who is sitting on the deck chairs of the Titanic but who got into the lifeboats. The formers future is known the latter have a life to live.
Collapse of Paper Currencies and what to do!
For those of you who do not read the specialist Reports let me tell you these men who advise the very top have been warning about this coming collapse for over two years. Their constant mantra has been "get out of paper currencies like the Dollar and Gold. Buy gold, not the shares. Gold is heading for $2500. ++++an ounce and oil is headed for the ceiling. Cooking oil is headed for the roof as well. It already has gone from £8.99 to £15.99 for twenty litres because so many are now using it in their diesels. If you continue to believe our politicians etc, maybe I can interest you in a lovely water front property in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Shortly Gold will be to expensive so the move will be Silver then as there are few mines the next investment will be copper. Oil will become a top player as the shortages become more acute. The prognosis is that shortly it will reach £1.50 at the pump. By the way questions should be asked in Parliament of Mr Prudence, Bottom Brown why he sold our HALF our Gold reserves at less than one thirds of today’s price against Bank of England advice. I thought that’s why he set them up as Independent to handle these things. To keep stupid decisions by inept politicians out of the loop. Who got this traunch of Gold at this knock down price. The groups that supported the Labour in power with money and media?
But as the oil bomb is going off day by day as the currencies collapse. What to do?
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Posted by: Jas | Tuesday, 18 March 2008 at 10:05 AM