Rogers rides in as Budd blooms

Date: 07/12/1995

There are more than a few ruffled feathers in Sir Leon Brittan's entourage as Colin Budd, chef de Cabinet for the past couple of years, moves on.

Budd, who came to Brussels from Bonn, is returning to London at Christmas to join the Cabinet Office.

Word is that his Whitehall role will be in defence, where his European credentials will be valuable as the IGC discusses the CFSP.

But eyebrows have been raised by the decision not to elevate any of the current Brittan team, notably his loyal and very highly-regarded number two Catherine Day, whose seventh year with Sir Leon is coming to an end.

She is one of the most experienced Cabinet members in the entire Commission, having served with Irish Commissioners Dick Burke and Peter Sutherland.

But her nationality may have played against her for a post which is traditionally regarded as a UK Foreign Office slot.

Instead, Budd's surprise successor is Ivan Rogers, a thirty-something Treasury high flyer. He is currently in charge of the spending directorate handling the UK government's overseas aid, diplomacy and intelligence budget.

Before that, he was principal private secretary to UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke.

Day is not the only disappointed figure in the Brittan Cabinet: Robert Madelin is also understood to have had high hopes after handling trade, GATT, and Uruguay Round issues in UKREP and in the Cabinet.

Insiders say Ivan Rogers has been picked because Sir Leon and the British Chancellor for whom he worked have similar views on Europe's future.

Catherine Day, incidentally, is not only a much-respected senior Brittan Cabinet member, she also happens to be Sir Leon's 'foreigner' - an Irishwoman who fulfills the unwritten rule that Comissioners do not surround themselves solely with their own nationals.

At his very first cocktail party after being appointed a Commissioner, Sir Leon was proudly proclaiming his new team's credentials.

But one curious journalist asked officials whether it was wise for him to fill the Cabinet with English speakers without even a gesture towards the rest of Europe.

Nonsense, replied one official with a grin, we've found ourselves a very fine foreigner indeed - come and meet Catherine.