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Goodbye Phil

• Mark Devenport
• 2 Mar 07, 11:44 AM

The Secretary of State's Special Adviser Phil Taylor is expected to step down at the end of the month. Mr Taylor will take two months unpaid leave to become Political Director for Peter Hain's campaign for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party. That's provided devolution is restored - if there's no deal by March 26th the move might be reconsidered.

During his time as Special Adviser, Phil Taylor has been heavily involved in the development of policy initiatives such as the introduction of water charges and restrictions on building in the countryside. He has radical views about the scope for cutting the layers of bureaucracy here. Some civil servants will tell you he has been the "real Secretary of State".

After some documents from the Hain campaign were leaked to the Guido Fawkes website, some have questioned whether a Special Adviser can work on such a campaign whilst holding on to a civil service job. Phil Taylor tells me he has sought advice from his Permanent Secretary and believes he has remained within the ministerial code. Advisers, he says, are entitled to assist the campaigns provided it does not interfere with their other duties or impinges on the hours they should be working. Mr Taylor says that whatever criticisms might have been made of him during his 18 months at the NIO, not putting in the hours has not been one anyone could sustain.