Simon McGee Crocodile Pirate

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Oasis were the biggest band in the world at that time," says Simon. "So that means bigger than us, of course. They came on with way more attitude and a better frontman (Liam). He created the zeitgeist, but maybe I'm a better singer than him. I'm sure he would give me that!" Read More Related Articles Already sorted: The short-lived former Leveling Up Secretary Greg Clark has been re-elected unopposed as the chair of the Commons science committee. It comes days after a long-serving former government special adviser, Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, was reported to have been lined up as the new No 10 director of strategy. One insider said the move had put “some noses out of joint”, with De Botton appearing to have been undermined. “She’s not really in the gang,” said another. He is currently running the political side of the operation and will stay on if Ms Truss becomes PM. In his new role he would continue to handle domestic politics. Simon McGee

NEW GIG: Congratulations to Martyn Brown, who has been promoted to deputy political editor of the Daily Express. And that wasn’t even one of the big challenges. Did we have a positive enough story about modern diplomacy and the means and voices within the FCO to tell it? And would these stories resonate and convince a documentary team or would they seek to drive an agenda during a time of turmoil in our foreign policy with near neighbours? There was also the issue of ministerial sign-off. While the public believes that politicians love the media limelight – and they may be right with some characters – the vast majority are conscious of the power of media and are calculating in how they engage with it and seek to exploit it. Ministers also tend to have enough on their plates already without having to worry about television crews buzzing around them. And ministerial Special Advisers, whose primary job it is to protect their man or woman before all other considerations, are understandably sceptical of long-term projects that aim to promote a government department but may only tangentially benefit their master. SPAD MOVES: Everything is in flux in SpAd world following the new PM’s reshuffle. Playbook will run you through the new gigs and departures this week — do get in touch with your own news. Brandon Lewis SpAd Isabel Bruce is joining her boss at the MoJ. Long-serving SpAd Rob Oxley, most recently at DCMS, is leaving government — he wrote about his departure here.

Ruth Porter, senior special adviser

Eye, eye: Simon Fowler in 2016 at the now former Highbury Studio in Kings Heath (Image: Graham Young / BirminghamLive)

Prior to entering Whitehall, he was a journalist for the Mail on Sunday, the Sunday Times and the Yorkshire Post.PLAYBOOKCOULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT:Editor Zoya Sheftalovich, reporter Andrew McDonald and producer Grace Stranger. UKRAINE POLL: Sixteen out of 22 countries surveyed by Datapraxis and YouGov for the Open Society Foundations believe that peace in Ukraine can only be achieved with the withdrawal of Russian troops. In the U.K., 77 percent express this view. The vast findings are published in this report. Jason Stein, special adviser, political: A return to Team Truss in a strategy role for Stein, who worked as her spokesperson while she was in the Treasury under Theresa May. Split his time since then working for Amber Rudd … FGS … Jeremy Hunt’s first leadership campaign … Prince Andrew … Before joining the Liz4Leader campaign this summer. Julia Hartley-Brewer at breakfast (talkTV): Education committee Chairman Robert Halfon (8.05 a.m.) … Defense committee Chairman Tobias Ellwood (9.05 a.m.). Sophie Jarvis, political secretary: The long-serving Truss SpAd will take on a role overseeing parliamentary relations with the top of government. Previously with the Adam Smith Institute.

First hired as a SpAd by Ms Truss in 2020 when she was International Trade Secretary, he followed her to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office the next year. Mr Jones has previously been a speechwriter for the group chief executive at HSBC. Jason Stein, special adviser, political Continent Latest news, analysis and comment from POLITICO’s editors and guest writers on the continent. NEW GIG: Merryn Somerset Webb, formerly editor-in-chief of MoneyWeek, is joining Bloomberg as a senior columnist. NEW GIG II: After two years of doing comms at the MoD, Stephen Canning is off to defense tech firm Research Innovations.Putin watch: Western leaders are scrambling to plan for whatever the increasingly unpredictable Putin does next, POLITICO’s Lili Bayer writes. Officials accept they can’t defend against all of Putin’s latest violent tactics, but they are discussing what new weapons Ukraine might need, how to better monitor Europe’s critical infrastructure and ways of dissuading Putin away from the nuclear button. Lili has lots of insider reporting on how the West will approach those three areas. Meanwhile, the Russian leader is due to meet Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Astana today. Be the first to learn the latest updates on pharmaceutical supply-chain and vaccination strategy and access long-reads that give you a deep-dive into trending Health Care topics. Request a trial of Pro Health Care now to learn how Pro makes your life as a Health Care policy professional easier.** IN LABOUR LAND Mr Rules regroups: Starmer is having to devise a new approach now that Johnson is out, and going up against Truss is a very different proposition. Labour strategists believe that Truss will be more thorough in her prep and more interested in engaging on policy than Johnson was. Labour advisers have been told that the strategy is now to move away from the Boris vs. Keir personality clash to a battle of ideas and a focus on capitalizing on the Tory divisions exposed during the contest.

The BBC’s recent fly-on-the-wall documentary on the FCO was more than two years in the making and the decision to let in the cameras posed many risks. Simon McGee, who served as FCO press secretary during its creation, explains the story behind the story Cross-party support: As co-chair of the inter-parliamentary alliance on China, IDS is well-placed to hoover up votes from other hawks across different parties. His IPAC co-chair is Helena Kennedy — an ally of Keir Starmer — and IDS has also worked closely with former Starmer PPS Carolyn Harris on issues such as gambling regulation. A QUESTION OF TRUSS: Liz Truss will today face questions about whether she can restore her government’s economic credibility amid another round of dire financial headlines this morning. The prime minister will face MPs at noon for her second-ever PMQs after Britain’s independent central bank governor last night made it clear he has no intention of extending an emergency debt-buying program beyond Friday. The prime minister, who is also Britain’s First Lord of the Treasury, has some big decisions to make in the days ahead. Ultimately, we believed that the end result would be worth the gestation pain. At the heart of the project was a simple belief that the FCO had a good story to tell about what it did for Brits around the world – never or very rarely involving a Ferrero Rocher chocolate. So, we set about establishing the basic case for it, anticipating problems, and working with the BBC to win round the people inside government who would need convincing.Shabbir Merali, economic adviser, policy unit: Joining Sinclair on the economy brief will be Merali, who advised Truss on the economy in the FCDO and DIT. Cambridge policy fellow and a qualified accountant. Uh-oh: The Times splash has one of Truss’ new Cabinet ministers privately questioning whether she will survive until the next election as a result. “I doubt she’ll last two years,” said minister told the paper. HOUSE OF COMMONS: Sits from 11.30 a.m. with Scotland Office questions, followed by PMQs at noon … After any UQs or statements, the main business will be the second reading of the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill on the Irish language, while there will also be a debate on proxy voting for MPs. No time to lose: It’s not just the chancellor who’s had to burn the midnight oil. Treasury officials have been asked to submit reports on which projects within their areas “deliver toward economic growth” (a central principle of Trussonomics) by 10 a.m. today, Playbook hears.