W
hen Sir Oliver Robbins began contacting old colleagues in the Cabinet Office two or three months ago, it seemed the former chief Brexit negotiator was bored of banking and looking for a way back into Whitehall amid suggestions that Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, might not return from sick leave.
Case is now back in harness but officials say Robbins is continuing to “sniff around” his old department. Senior civil servants and several sources around Sir Keir Starmer say Robbins is the first choice of Sue Gray, Labour’s chief of staff, to take on the top role in the civil service.
The possibility of a return for the man who negotiated Theresa May’s 2019 deal with Brussels, ultimately rejected by MPs, would put Brexit back
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