anticant's arena (Free subscription) | 02/11/2009
The question is being widely asked: ‘Is Tony Blair fit to be President of Europe?’ An even more pertinent question is, was Tony Blair fit to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom? Judging from revelations by his old chum and former mentor “Derry” Irvine - head of the barristers’ chambers of which both Tony Blair and his wife Cherie Booth were members and first met each...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 02/11/2009
Six years after he was dismissed as Llord Chancellor by his old pupil, Tony Blair, Lord Irvine has broken his silence to accuse the then-prime minister of botching the reform and humiliating him. But is that the whole story? Michael White reports. When Tony Blair unceremoniously sacked his first employer and patron, Derry Irvine, in 2003, the outgoing lord chancellor was deeply hurt. Despite his imposing...
EU Referendum (Free subscription) | 16/10/2009
David Cameron's appointment of General Sir Richard Dannatt as a military adviser was "a very major error of judgment", a former head of the Civil Service said yesterday . This was Lord Turnbull, giving evidence to the Commons Public Administration Committee, warning that the move would call into question the political impartiality of other defence chiefs. “You talk to the admirals and...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 15/10/2009
The appointment of General Sir Richard Dannatt, the former chief of the general staff, as an adviser to the Conservatives was a "major error of judgment," a former cabinet secretary said today. As shadow ministers intensified complaints to the Tory leadership, with one describing Dannatt as "dead in the water", Lord Turnbull said that the appointment overturned the convention that...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 15/10/2009
• Deep unease within party and Whitehall, says Lord Turnbull • Cameron's choice 'subverts' chain of command The appointment of General Sir Richard Dannatt, the former chief of the general staff, as an adviser to the Conservatives was "a major error of judgment," a former cabinet secretary said today. As senior shadow ministers intensify their complaints to the Tory leadership about...
Liberal Vision (Free subscription) | 26/08/2009
Readers may recall former permanent secretary Lord Turnbull comparing Gordon Brown, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, to T.S. Eliot’s Macavity back in 2007. After a couple of years at the helm, Brown has certainly proved that he’s the Prime Minister who isn’t there. Here’s Liberal Vision’s “tribute”.
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 23/08/2009
Mandarins criticise party's record on cabinet government Labour has abandoned cabinet government during its time in power and routinely bypassed the civil service to exert greater political control over Whitehall, some of Britain's most senior mandarins have warned. In a damning indictment of the Blair-Brown years, four former cabinet secretaries – who served three prime ministers over 26 years...
Noclue (Free subscription) | 23/08/2009
Comr ade Brown’s fondness for g oing missing when a tough decision has to be taken has become legendary in Westminster, in the press a nd also with the public . Allies of Tony Blair nicknamed him "Macavity" – after the vanishing My stery Cat in T.S. Eliot’s poem. Quoting a ve rse, Lord Turnbull, Britain’s top civil serv ant between 2002 and 2005, famou sly said of...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 22/02/2009
David Cameron has enlisted Lord Turnbull, the former cabinet secretary under Tony Blair, as an adviser on making preparations for government, in a further sign of how power is shifting in Whitehall, the Observer can reveal. The news that such a seasoned former mandarin, closely associated with New Labour's time in office, is helping the Tories will come as a further blow to Gordon Brown, who a week...
GREENIE WATCH (Free subscription) | 17/02/2009
THE POWER OF CONSENSUS An email from David Whitehouse [me@davidwhitehouse.com] These are the words of Lord Turnbull (Cabinet Secretary 2002-2005) talking on Channel 4 News (13th February) about the origins of the banking crisis. "Now what it is, is a collective failure that all sorts of people - the regulator, the bankers, the economic policy makers. They believed in a particular view of the world...
Channel 4 (Free subscription) | 13/02/2009
Krishnan Guru-Murthy interviews Lord Andrew Turnbull, former head of the civil service about lavish hospitality invitations received by civil servants; and also about his view of the current banking crisis.
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