David Fielding

Britain's top civil servant Cabinet Secretary Chris Wormald has departed Downing Street - and it has been widely briefed that Sir Keir Starmer intends to replace him with Antonia Romeo. But Dame Antonia has been at times a controversial figure - she was investigated by the Foreign Office while serving as Consul General in New York in 2017 over allegations of bullying, harassment, discrimination and misusing expenses. Now Lord McDonald, who was the Permanent Secretary in charge of the Foreign Office at the time, says he's tried to offer his testimony as part of the vetting process but hasn't yet heard back.

I give you Foxes

While prepping to interview Boris Johnson tomorrow,  by mistake I sent our briefing notes to him in a message meant for my team. That obviously means it’s not right for the interview to go ahead. It’s very frustrating, and there’s no point pretending it’s anything other than embarrassing and disappointing, as there are plenty of important questions to be asked. But red faces aside, honesty is the best policy. See you on Sunday.