Gareth Parry

[Gareth Parry @gp5027]

@ilovenostalgia Tenderising meat

[Robert Peston @Peston]

Here is what is important about the decision of the Advisory Committee on Business Interests on Sue Gray’s appointment as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff - and Eric Pickles’s letter explaining why it recommends she wait 6 months, or till September, before taking up the post. His letter is implicitly critical of her former colleagues in Whitehall - at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and at the Cabinet Office - for making an emotional case that she had breached impartiality by talking to Labour about leaving the civil service, and then - when asked for concrete examples - being unable to provide a single instance where she had actually breached impartiality or was likely to breach impartiality. “Their submission and position was flaky and over the top” said a well-placed source. ACOBA also implicitly criticises Whitehall for briefing against her in the press (see attached). The net result is that ACOBA ended up imposing a shorter period in the wilderness for Gray than it might otherwise have done, and around half what the Cabinet Office asked for. This is all pretty embarrassing for the centre of government. If the Cabinet Office goes ahead with its threat to find her guilty of breaking the ministerial code, that will look odd given its failure to persuade ACOBA there was or would be a breach of her duty as a civil servant to be impartial. And there is a separate risk for Whitehall. She will now be Keir Starmer’s main negotiator WITH Whitehall in coming months on preparations for Labour going into government were it to win the next election. Also and given latest polls, the likelihood is she will be with Starmer IN government after the election. So is it really in Whitehall’s interest to alienate Gray - after all, one of their own - if they will have to work so closely with her, once she is Starmer’s most important aide on working with and reforming the machinery of government?

[Gareth Parry @gp5027]

@BerksSchoolsAA @PiggottPE @TheHoltPE @DHSport1 @Theabbey_sport Well done Erin
G and G

[Gareth Parry @gp5027]

@GreaterSurely @80_mcswan Yes

[Gareth Parry @gp5027]

overdramatic dog faints while a lady tries to cut its nail - 1067380 https://t.co/uj9q9kKfUC via @YouTube

[Gareth Parry @gp5027]

.@10DowningStreet Prime Minister @BorisJohnson, will your Government sit down with the @BBC and sort out free #TVlicences for all over-75s? The public is overwhelmingly in support of free licences and both sides now need to listen & respond.
https://t.co/LxqcYvYO89 #SwitchedOff

[Gareth Parry @gp5027]

https://t.co/jc3bC9gUbV

[Gareth Parry @gp5027]

https://t.co/jc3bC9gUbV

[Gareth Parry @gp5027]

Reset the Clock You Forgot How to Set by Timing for 12:00 https://t.co/yXGcp4sGZ2

[Gareth Parry @gp5027]

Insomnia: What to Do When You Can't Fall Asleep or Stay Asleep https://t.co/9EPFQsSTJn

[Gareth Parry @gp5027]

@JoyAngharad Almost as fascinating as kittens playing with a ball of wool?

[Gareth Parry @gp5027]

@tom69148741 All I wanted was to discover why Today went off air!