§ 39. Mr. BeithTo ask the Minister for the Civil Service whether he has any plans to co-ordinate the work of press and information officers in the civil service.
§ Mr. RentonThe existing longstanding arrangements will continue to operate.
§ Mr. BeithNow that there is a new press officer at No. 10 who does not have the service-wide responsibilities acquired by his predecessor, will we enter a new era in which the line between Government policy and party matters is clearly drawn and the press office at Downing street does not blacken the character of, and put the knife into, Ministers, or will old habits come back quickly?
§ Mr. RentonI am amazed that the hon. Gentleman asked that supplementary question, although I thought he might because he has a gift for turning a silk purse back into a sow's ear. I have no doubt that both the gentlemen who have been appointed—Mr. Devereau as head of the 20 profession, as he is technically called, and Mr. O'Donnell, as No. 10's press officer—will fulfil their duties and responsibilities very well.