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So, what does a Special Adviser do?

Special advisers (or “spads” for short) tend to have a bad press. Alastair Campbell was a spad, as was Jo (“good day to bury bad news”) Moore; Andrew Blick’s book on the topic was called People Who Live in the Dark; and a contributor to a recent Lib Dem Voice exchange observed that “We made so many breaks with New Labour, why did we have to adopt their spad culture?”

Actually special advisers have a much longer history than that. One can trace their origins right back to Lloyd …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , and | 18 Comments
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    @Peter, Fair points about PIP - but I'm afraid that your conclusion that the answer is "allowing workers decent wages" won't fly. How exactly could we polit...
  • nigel hunter
    David Raw.I agree with you...
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    Rather than 'renovating 'the country, privatisation bled us dry .Bled us our ability to defend ourselves thru our own resources. The wheel has gone full circle ...
  • Jana
    “ I’d call this organisation DRAKE, after the man who understood that protecting British waters…” Drake may have been an English hero but lived long ...
  • Peter Martin
    @ David, I did say "*trying* to eliminate poverty through ever higher benefit payments...." 'Trying' is not the same as succeeding. You make the point th...