A former Downing Street adviser has offered a revealing insight into the inner workings of the New Labour governments and their approach to the media.
Theo Bertram, former adviser to both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, took to Twitter to tell the story of "The Call", a late-night conference call between high level No 10 staff and politicians.
Every Saturday night at 10:30pm those invited, including press officers, special advisers and the Prime Minister’s staff, would dial in to the Downing Street switchboard.
But, according to Bertram, there were rules.
Step 1: You had to get the jargon right.
The reason for this secret call at an ungodly hour every week was to digest the Sunday papers and prepare the defences against the inevitable attacks. To not have to say anything in the call was a good sign as it meant your department was not in the Sunday papers’ firing line.
But to be in on the time-zone-busting call was the greatest honour...
Step 2: You had you put your phone on mute.
According to Bertram, this was often the biggest problem in "The Call". However many times muting was requested, someone would ruin it for everyone. Usually 'Jane'.
And then there were the ministers.
Prescott was not on mute and made his opinions known, according to Bertram.
But, obviously, the most important issue was that it was a Saturday night. To drink, or not to drink? Bertram chose the professional (/weekend-ruining) route.
But he broke soon enough.
And the moral of the story? Always be 'Jane'
Bertram’s former colleague Iain Bundred, who was a Downing Street spokesperson, agreed
But it was too much for former Deputy Chief of Staff at No.10 Gavin Kelly
Being 'Jane' never damaged the career of Bertram. He ended up staying with Brown until the bitter end (playing the part of Nick Clegg in television debate preparations) and is now the policy head for Google in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
John Prescott is yet to comment.
