The official line from Number 10 is that Damian McBride’s emails were “juvenile and inappropriate” and that all staff will be reminded of the “appropriate” use of resources. Presumably they will also be reminded of how to be grown up.
It has been an open secret for some time that there has been mission creep from McBride’s supposed backroom role. The formerly neutral Treasury civil servant was moved last October from his job as Gordon Brown’s frontline spinner because some, including cabinet ministers, believed he had become a liability. But McBride is an obsessive texter and emailer and it seems he couldn’t resist letting his fingers do the walking.
Regular readers of this blog may remember the text message I received from the Number 10 charmer after I reported that officials had been taking an interest in footage of Obama’s televised apologies.
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